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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 21, 2017 12:26:53 GMT -5
This is just gonna be my little corner for the one-offs I do based around video games or my own OCs adventures. These'll be anywhere between E-M depending on the game/characters involved, and there'll be disclaimers with the intended rating at the top of each entry. Sporadically updated as time goes on.
Batman: Arkham Knight--It Was Over: [T]
It was over. The entire world knew that Bruce Wayne and Batman were the same man now. Thanks to Scarecrow making Jim Gordon unmask him on television, Bruce knew everything was over. Flying down to Panessa Studios and taking the elevator down to the base within it, Bruce let his cowl hit the ground as he took it off, sitting in a chair and sighing to himself, feeling worn out and rundown after the long night dealing with the Arkham Knight and Scarecrow.
He put his head in his hands at the computer, looking at his reflection. "It's for the best," he muttered. "Barbara, Tim, Dick....they can do this without me."
"Talkin' to yourself again, Bats?" the shrill voice of Harley Quinn asked, Bruce turning and staring at her. "Geeze, you look like crap."
"Thank you for the observation," Bruce said. He walked over and unlocked the cell, stepping back as the door opened. "Please get out."
Harley slid off of the cot she was on, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Bruce, walking out slowly. "You ain't pullin' a trick are you, Bats?" she asked. "You ain't gonna Batarang me as I walk out?"
"No," Bruce said, sitting down again and sighing. "I'm done, Harley...."
"What'd you mean, done? You lose your mind?" Harley asked, grabbing a second chair. "I ain't leavin' until we got this sorted, Bats. What happened out there tonight?"
Bruce knew there was no use, and he described everything that happened since locking Harley in the cell, his hands clenched the entire time. "Now I've got nothing left. Everyone knows that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same man, and the people I care for outside of this are going to be targetted now."
Harley nodded, her arms folded across her chest. "Tell me somethin'. How'd you convince Red to help you?" she asked. "Thought she didn't like us meatbags?"
"Not all of us," Bruce said. "Her plants were going to die as well. We found two ancient roots under GOtham City, and she brought them to the surface to stop the Cloudburst. The second one....the strain ws too much on her. I went to check on her, catching her as she fell out. The...the last thing she whispered was "Nature always wins." before she faded away..."
"Red.....she's dead?" Harley asked, her hands clenching as she stood up and swung the chair she was on at Bruce, hitting him across the chest and knocking him out of the chair, her hands shaking. "You killed her?!"
Bruce looked down as he slowly stood up. "If that's what you want to think of it as," he whispered. "I didn't mean it to happen, Harley. I asked her for help and she gave her help. Her last act was saving Gotham City."
"You son of a bitch!" Harley screamed, lunging at Bruce and tackling him to the ground, slamming punch after punch into him, grabbing whatever she could to beat him with. After ten minutes she finally stopped, falling to the ground and crying as she covered her face. "You took them both away from me...."
Bruce stood up slowly, looking down at Harley. "I'm sorry, Harley. I'm truly sorry for everything. I'm sorry Joker manipulated you back in Blackgate, making you into this. I'm so sorry for everything that's happened to you," he whispered. "And I'm so sorry for taking them both away from you..."
Harley stood up, punching Bruce in the mouth one last time. "No, not yet you're not. You won't ever truly know how sorry you are for everything! You took my Mr. J away from me! You took Pammy away from me! I should kill you where you stand, Bruce!"
"Then why don't you?" Bruce asked, looking at Harley as he wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "I'm standing right here, Harley. Do it if you think you can." He took his utility belt off and threw it on the floor in front of Harley, standing in the middle of the room. "Explosive gel, Batarangs, Remote Electrical Gun, Smoke pellets so I won't see you coming, Batclaw to rip my throat out, line launcher to run me through and string me up on the wall. Pick something and do it then if you've got the guts."
Harley picked the belt up, her hands shaking as she looked at it. After a long few minutes, she dropped it back on the ground. "Take me there," she whispered. "Please, Bruce....lemme say goodbye to her....just this one thing..."
Bruce nodded, clipping his belt back on and walking with Harley out of the room to the elevator, leading her outside. He summoned the Batmobile with the remote function, the canopy opening as it stopped. "Get in," he said, his cowl securing back around his head before he got in after her. He drove in silence to the Miagani Botanical Gardens, stopping under the giant plant. "We're here." He got out and helped Harley out, the Clown Queen of Crime looking up at the plant.
"Jeeze, Red," she whispered. "How do we get up there?"
"This way," Bruce said, picking Harley up and grappling up to the roof, landing beside the 'door' that Ivy'd made inside of the plant to use her. He let Harley go, watching her run over to the plant growing out of what remained of Ivy's old Arkham Asylum shirt.
Harley knelt down, closing her eyes and touching the plant lightly. "Hi, Red," she whispered. "Hope you're ok wherever you are. I'm so sorry this happened to you, sweetie...." She started crying again, her tears hitting the petals on the plant as they fell.
Bruce sighed softly, walking over and putting his hand on Harley's shoulder. He knelt beside her, looking at the plant. "If you hadn't been in the City and if her plants hadn't been threatened by Scarecrow and Jason...I don't think she would have helped us, Harley. She did more for this City tonight then I did, and I can't thank her for helping me," he whispered. "She's the real hero tonight, not me."
"She was always the hero to me," Harley whispered, touching the plant lightly. "Can I stay here? PLease?"
Bruce nodded softly. "I'll send one of the others to find you later," he whispered, giving Harley's hand a squeeze before he walked over and dropped off of the roof, landing beside the Batmobile again. "Alfred."
"Yes, Master Bruce?
"Send the Batwing to GCPD. I'm ending this now," Bruce said. "Knightfall Protocol."
"Yes, sir," Alfred said, looking at the computer and knowing better then to question Bruce. "Authorization required, Sir."
"Martha," Bruce whispered.
"Knightfall activated, Master Bruce," Alfred said. "I will await your return."
Bruce returned to GCPD, the Batwing landing on the street. The oficers poured outside, Cash carrying Barbara since her wheelchair was gone. He got out of the Batmobile and walked over, taking Barbara's hand softly. "Thank you for everything, Barbara," he whispered, hugging her softly.
"You're welcome, Bruce," Barbara whispered, leaning up and kissing his cheek softly, tears in her eyes. "We'll keep Gotham safe."
"I know," Bruce whispered. "After tonight, there'll be something in the mail for you and Tim for the wedding. My last gift to you two. One's on it's way to Dick in Bludhaven, and...Jason's is under his headstone on Wayne Manor property."
Barbara nodded. "I'll find him and tell him," she whispered. "Goodbye, Bruce."
"Goodbye, Barbara," Bruce said, looking at the officers. "Aaron--"
"Save it, Batman," Cash said, smiling softly. "You did what you did for the City, and we can't forget that. I'd salute you, but I've got my hands full."
"Everyone says that about me," Barbara said with a grin, making Bruce chuckle softly.
"You don't have to," Bruce said, walking back to the Batmobile and driving it into the carrier under the Batwing, moving up to the cockpit and taking off for Wayne Manor and the final goodbyes.
After arriving at the Manor, Bruce dropped out of the Batwing inside of the gates, hearing the reporters and chatter from behind himself. He undid the cowl for the last time, letting it fall to the ground before he walked into the Manor, seeing Alfred standing inside of the door like always.
"Welcome home, Master Bruce," the old butler said.
"Goodbye, Alfred," Bruce said, hugging his oldest friend for the first time since his parents deaths so many years before. "Knightfall Protocol. Final activation. Bruce Wayne 51939#27."
Outside, the reporters watched as the Manor exploded, taking Bruce and Alfred with it, screaming filling the air as they scrambled to avoid the debris from the blast, Vicki Vale the only one not running away as she stood her ground, staring at the smoldering remains of the Manor.
"Goodbye, Bruce," she whispered.
As the clouds settled over the rising Gotham City sun after the long Halloween night, the remains of the Manor were finally seen in a horrific state, the realization that Batman and Bruce Wayne were dead settling into the chilly morning. It was over.
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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 21, 2017 12:27:52 GMT -5
This is based around my second playthrough of Mass Effect 3 with my imported Shepard from ME1 and 2.
Mass Effect: After The End [T]
The war was over. THe Reapers had been destroyed. Most of the Mass Relays were beyond repair, and even if they did start working again, who knew how long it'd be before the next conflict broke out. The crew of the Normandy, led at the moment by Dr. Liara T'soni, stood in front of the rememberance wall in the crew deck, the Asari doctor holding Commander Shepard's plaque in her hands.
She looked at the wall and sighed, closing her eyes and remembering the last conversation she'd had with Shepard. "I love you, Shepard." she'd whispered, standing close to the people she'd formed such a deep bond with over the years. She tightened her hand on the plaque and looked at the wall.
"She isn't dead," she whispered. "I'd know it. Joker, how quickly can you have the Normandy running again?"
"Couple days with everyone's help," Joker said, looking at Liara. "Why?"
"We're going back to Earth," Liara said. "To the site of the Crucible wreckage."
After helping get the ship in working order, the Normandy took off from the lush jungle world they'd landed on after the Relay's exploded, beginning the long journey back to Earth. Several weeks later, the Normandy docked in a slowly rebuilding London, Liara and Garrus leading the way off of the ship. Liara made her way through the docking bay, heading for the head of security.
"Excuse me!" she hollered, catching the head before he walked off. "I'm sorry, I'm looking for some information. What happened to the rubble that was cleared from the Cruicible and Citadel, and where there any survivors?"
"The rubble was cleared off and taken around the world for disposal," the security head said, looking at his omnitool and scrolling through a list of people. "THere was one survivor. Shepard, J. Commander of the Normandy SR-2. She was taken to Westworld Memorial, other side of the city."
"Thank you," Liara said, looking at Garrus. "I knew she was alive, Garrus."
"Then go," the Turian said with a smile. "Move it, Doctor."
Liara nodded, running out and hailing a cab, heading for the hospital. Upon arriving, she demanded to know where SHepard's room was, but was turned away. Getting angry, Liara slammed her hand down on the desk hard enough that it made the hallway fall silent.
"LIsten to me, you little bitch," the Asari doctor snarled, grabbing the nurse by the scrubs and getting in her face. "You tell me where Jane Shepard, Commander of the Normandy SR-2, and the WOMAN THAT SAVED THE DAMNED UNIVERSE is or I will rip you apart one molecule at a time until I'm told!"
"Floor eighteen! Room thirty-seven!" the nurse finally admitted, getting dropped down into her chair again.
"Thank you," Liara said, running down to catch the elevator. She hit the button for the eighteenth floor, tapping her fist nervously against the wall as she waited for the elevator to reach the room. After what felt like an eternity--not an easy feat for an Asari--the elevator finally dinged and Liara stepped out, jogging down the hall. "Commander Shepard's room, please." She got directed to the room, walking down the hall and rubbing her arms before she knocked on the door, seeing Shepard sleeping. She walked over and sat beside the bed, reaching out and taking her hand. "You asshole...don't ever do that again..."
Shepard opened her eyes softly, having felt Liara's hand in hers. "Love you too, Liara," she whispered, blinking away the blurry vision and smiling softly. She sat up softly, adjusting the pillow to be behind her back. "They took the breathing tube out a week ago. Still won't let me leave. Say I'm not ready yet. Bullshit. I feel fine."
"Shepard, you had the Crucible fall on top of you. There was a dead Reaper on top of it," Liara said. She sighed softly, looking at Shepard. "What happened? After you sent Javik and me onto the ship. When the explosion happened."
Shepard sighed, looking out of the window. "When the explosion happened, I got knocked back pretty hard. Everything hurt. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to just limp my ass forward. I could barely lift my gun. I made it to the beam...wound up on the Citadel. Anderson was there in a different part and we met up near the console. I tried to activate it but at the time it wasn't working. The Illusive Man came in, started rambling about how the Reapers were going to save everything, how he was going to control them. But....he was different. Remember how when we were caught in the archive vault Brooks said he was Indoctrinated? I didn't want to believe it at the time but she was right. He was starting to look like a Husk," she said. She looked back at Liara and leaned her head back. "To prove a point, i guess, he ended up shooting Anderson in the stomach. I managed to convince him to focus on what he was doing, and when he saw what was going on, he shot himself in the head. I wanted to do that." She stopped talking, her hands clenched.
"Shepard," Liara whispered, putting her hand on Shepard's. "What happened next?"
Shepard sighed and looked at Liara. "Anderson died. I was talking to him and next thing I know he's not answering me anymore. I checked for a pulse and he wasn't there anymore. I forced myself up, trying to find a way to activate the Crucible but it didn't start. Next thing I knew I was in a room with three options for how to end the war with this little shit of a hologram that took the look of a kid I couldn't save when the first Reaper hit Earth. He said I had to choose. Destroy the Reapers and synthetics, Control them, or Sythesize organics and synthetics," she said. She bit her lip and sighed softly, staring down again. "I limped my ass to the far side where I could destroy them. I knew that...by choosing that option I was also killing EDI, and God did that thought hurt. I thought about turning around so many times and going to one of the other platforms. But then I thought of everyone that's been killed by those things and everything else in the last years. The Protheans, Thessia, Zaeed, Jack, the Geth, Legion, the Rachni, Mordin...I started shooting the console, knowing it was the only way to stop everything. When it exploded, the blast sent me flying. I don't remember anything that happened after that until I woke up under the rubble."
Liara nodded softly. "When the Crucible was destroyed by the blast, Joker pushed the Normandy as hard as he could to outrun the blast that was destroying all of the Relays. We ended up on a jungle planet. Shepard, it was beautiful. We didn't know about EDI until after going back inside and starting to clean up. Tali found her under some broken beams and part of the Galaxy Map console in the CIC," she said.
"He'll probably hate me after I explain this," Shepard said.
"I don't think he will," Liara said. "He's been with you the longest, hasn't he? If you explain what happened, he'll understand, Shepard."
A week later, Shepard was released from the hospital and went right back to the Normandy where she got swarmed by nearly everyone in one shot, Tali and Garrus being the foremost of the crowd. After recounting the story for everyone in one shot around the table in the mess hall, Shepard watched Joker walk out, feeling her heart sink into her stomach. She got up and walked after him, catching him in the observation deck.
"Joker?" she asked.
"Did you even think about how doing that would effect us around here, Shepard? How it'd feel to lose EDI? Christ, she was our friend. She might have been Cerberus, but she was still part of the Normandy and part of the crew," Joker said, looking at Shepard over his shoulder. "If it had have been me, I wouldn't have caused you to lose the person you'd loved, Shepard."
"Joker--"
"Save it. Just leave me alone," Joker said, staring out at the city.
Shepard nodded softly, walking out and heading to hte elevator, going up to the Captain's Cabin and shutting the door, sitting on her bed. She looked over at a picture on the table beside the bed, picking it up and sighing softly. "The last time we were all together," she muttered. "After the bullshit with my clone...Goddamn it!" She flung the picture and started throwing whatever she could, shattering the glass on her desk and overturning the bed before she finally sank to the floor, her hands shaking.
Liara sighed as she walked into Shepard's room, seeing the mess around the room, Shepard sitting against the empty fish tank with cut and bloody hands and looking depressed and angry all at once. "Come on," she said, walking over and taking Shepard's hands, standing her up. She led Shepard out of the room and back downstairs, heading for her room near the main battery. "Tomorrow, we're leaving. You need to get away, and you can't distance yourself from this by sitting on the Normandy." She pushed Shepard down onto her bed lightly, grabbing a medigel and applying it to Shepard's hands, sitting beside her girlfriend. "Just give it time. PLease?"
Shepard nodded, sighing as she leaned against Liara. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"You don't have to apologize for anything," Liara whispered, wrapping her arms around Shepard and kissing her cheek softly. "You did what you thought was right, Shepard. Please don't apologize." _________________________
As time went on, Shepard slowly started forgetting about the Reapers and the war as most people on the streets stopped coming up to her and wanting details and information all the time. As everyone moved on with their now war-less lives, Shepard and Liara settled down on Thessia to try and live semi-normal lives.
She walked out of the house and leaned against the wall, watching the sun rising over the city. Shepard sighed to herself as she folded her arms, smiling a bit. "It's peaceful. I like that," she said. "Now if only I didn't have to go in and work today."
"You could always say you're sick and stay home," Liara said as she walked up behind Shepard, wrapping her arms around her wife's waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Besides, I thought I tired you out last night?"
Shepard laughed softly, putting her hand on Liara's. "You did. But as much as I'd rather stay home today, I can't. I've got that class on weapon handling at the Academy, remember? And you've got to go in and finish working on the updates for Glyph to get that line ready for shipping, remember?"
"You take the fun out of life," Liara said with a smile, kissing Shepard softly. "But I love you anyway. Don't forget that we're going to the cliffs tonight for the meteor shower."
"I didn't forget," Shepard said with a smile. "And next week we're going to Rannoch for Tali and Garrus' wedding."
"I'm looking forward to it," Liara said. "Come on, Shepard. Let's start our day right."
"What, one more romp before we have to go to work?" Shepard asked with a smirk.
"Perhaps," Liara said, pulling away from Shepard and walking back into the house with a grin on her face.
"You'll be the death of me," Shepard laughed, walking back in and shutting the door.
Shepard knew that the nightmares would stop and the war would be forgotten. She just had to keep looking on the bright side of things and hope for the best as time went on, and with Liara at her side, she knew it'd be easier to do.
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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 21, 2017 12:28:24 GMT -5
This one's based around my intial playthrough of ME3. You'll see why as you read.
Mass Effect: White Picket Fences [M for language]
Shepard could not help the smile on her face as she watched Samantha outside in the garden. Lifting up their youngest daughter, she walked outside as Samantha stood up and turned around.
"Jane," she said, smiling. "I didn't hear you come out." She kissed her wife and smiled, tapping her daughter's nose.
"Because I'm a ninja," Shepard teased with a smile.
"Bullshit," Samantha laughed, making her daughter giggle. "I have never seen you be stealthy in six years. Not a single time during the Reapers were you ever a ninja."
"Good point," Shepard laughed. She looked behind Samantha and smiled. "You got the flowers in?"
Samantha nodded and smiled, intertwining her hand and Shepard's as she turned around and looked at the half-finished garden. "Mmmhm. Liara sent us a bundle from Thessia as well as the soil to grow them, and Garrus sent us some from Palaven. Grunt sent a box of dirt with a note saying "Flowers are ridiculous. Have some dirt anyway!" We still haven't gotten the ones from Tali yet, but they should be here in a few days," Samantha said with a smile, wrapping her arm around Shepard's waist and leaning her head against her wife's shoulder. "Oh. I also got a message from Ashley and Oriana. Ashley's going to bring her sister's favorite flowers, and Oriana's bringing a genetically modified species for us that can grow in any soil, so we can put the box of dirt from Tuchunka to use instead of it just sitting on the shelf."
Shepard smiled softly. "Alright. It'll be good to see them again," she said. She bounced her daughter lightly and gave Samantha's hand a squeeze. She looked around the small plot of land, and she furrowed her eyebrows. "Hmm..."
"Oh, God. You've got that crinkled nose happening," Samantha said. "Jane? What are you thinking?"
"The fence," Shepard said. "You told me once that you wanted a white picket fence to keep your garden and your family in. Remember?"
"Oh my God. You remembered that?" Samantha asked, laughing softly. "I thought you'd have forgotten."
"Like hell I'd forget that," Shepard said with a smile. "That was something that you told me you wanted a long time ago. I just haven't been able to get to it with being the Alliance's lapdog when it comes to still cleaning up after the Reaper invasion seven years ago. I'll go and get the stuff so I can work on the fence first thing in the morning, and I'll start working on it when I get home."
"Jane, you don't have to," Samantha said with a small smile. "It doesn't have to be done right away."
"Bullshit," Shepard said. "Samantha, I told you a long time ago that I'd make sure you had your house on a hill with a white picket fence and your garden. You've got the house on the hill with your family and your very beautiful garden. All that's missing is the fence."
Samantha smiled, leaning up and kissing Shepard softly. "Thank you," she whispered. She reached over and took their daughter, kissing her cheek. "Come on, Kelly. It's time for lunch." She walked into the house, Shepard close behind. Setting Kelly in her high chair, she set off to work in the kitchen, feeling Shepard's eyes on her the entire time. "You're staring."
"Of course I am," Shepard said with a smirk. "Why shouldn't I stare at one of the most beautiful women in the Galaxy as she bends over getting in the low cabinet?"
"Dear God," Samantha giggled, shaking her head. "You could have had anyone you wanted both on the Normandy and on Earth or any of the planets we visited. Why me?"
Shepard folded her arms and looked at Samantha as she went back to work, thinking about her answer. "Because...out of everyone I've met and had a relationship with over my years in the Alliance and before, you were the one that brought out the most humanity in me, Samantha. Yes, I loved Liara and Garrus during our brief times, but Liara was there helping me with Sovereign and Saren, and Garrus was the one that I trusted most during the Collectors. You...you helped me even after the two of them found me in the wreckage of the Crucible in London. You helped me push the nightmares away, you kept me going when I wanted to give up. You brought out something in me that I thought I'd lost a long time ago after Cerberus brought me back to life. You gave me my humanity back, Sam."
Samantha smiled softly, setting a skillet on the stove before she walked around the counter and wrapped her arms around Shepard's neck, looking up at her wife before she kissed her again. "Well, I'm glad that in the grand love life of Commander Shepard, I'm the one that won her heart," she said, pulling herself closer to Shepard. "You gave me something, too, Jane."
"I did?" Shepard asked, her arms sliding around Samantha and holding her tightly. "What?"
"My dream," Samantha whispered, closing her eyes. "Two beautiful girls, a beautiful house, a beautiful view. Everything I have right now is perfect. Being with you is what makes it all perfect. Because I know that no matter what happens, you're going to be the one that makes me smile when something's wrong."
Shepard just closed her eyes and nodded, rubbing Samantha's back and feeling her shiver. She smiled and kissed Samantha's shoulder, squeezing her wife softly. "I'm glad you've got everything you want, Sam. I really am," she whispered. "I want you to keep this dream as long as you can, and I'll do everything I can to keep it perfect."
"Then don't do anything else," Samantha said, looking up at Shepard and putting her hand on her wife's cheek. "It's already perfect as it is. Don't change anything."
"I'm still making the fence how you want it," Shepard said with a smile.
"Dear God, give up the fence," Samantha laughed. "I swear, you're never going to let that go until you've got it right, are you?"
"Hell no. You wanted it a specific way, you're gonna get it the way you want," Shepard smirked. "And the only way you'll get me to leave it alone is to tie my hands where I can't pick up a hammer."
Samantha just smirked, a devilish glimmer in her eye that told Shepard she was in trouble. "Tying you up so that you can't use your hands? Well, I'll have to put my knot tying to work tonight then," she said, slinking back into the kitchen and shaking her hips just a bit more then she usually would. She grinned as she heard Shepard groan, realizing the trap she'd fallen into.
"Sounds like fun," Shepard said with a smile, sitting down at the counter and watching Samantha. "You're still getting the fence."
"Oh my God!" Samantha laughed, making Shepard laugh as well. "You're terrible."
"You love me anyway," Shepard said, crossing her arms on the counter. "You love me anyway, Samantha."
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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 21, 2017 12:29:04 GMT -5
THis one's based around my second Saints Row 3 run where you go after Killbane instead of saving your friends on Magarac Island.
Saints Row: How To Heal [M for language and slight adult themes]
Sitting alone in the penthouse kitchen of the Safeword Club, the Boss of the Third Street Saints threw her empty beer bottle across the room and caused it to shatter, cracking open another as she stared at the picture of herself, Shaundi, and Johnny Gat just a few months before that hung on the fridge, all three laughing with drinks in hand. It had been a month since she'd declared Steelport foreign soil to Monica Hughes and the rest of the world on television after killing Cyrus Temple, and there were wounds she still couldn't get to heal.
"Fuck this," the Boss sighed, getting up and walking out of the kitchen before she sank onto the couch, growling as she felt something jabbing her in the back. She moved and reached into the couch, snickering to herself. "Kinzie, you left your dildo bat." SHe set it on the coffee table and shook her head, sending a text to Kinzie to come by and pick up her weapon-slash-sex toy before she got up and headed to the bedroom, throwing her phone on the bed before she stripped down and headed to the bathroom.
Inside the shower, she looked down at the star tattoo on her hand, having gotten in the day of Shaundi's funeral as they laid her, Viola, and Burt to rest. The hot water cascaded down her back, and instead of feeling better, the Boss just felt worse. SInking down to the floor, she pressed her back against the cold wall, drawing her knees up as she remembered the phone call from Pierce that damned day.
"Did you kill the son of a bitch?" Pierce asked, talking about Eddie "Killbane" Pryor who's plane she'd blown to hell before beating the Luchadore with her bare hands before she snapped his neck.
"Yeah..." she had said, looking around at the wreckage of the plane and several cars with charring corpses in them.
"Was it worth it?" Pierce's voice asked, his tone upset and hurting. He'd watched Magarac Island blow up, and he had known which path the Boss had taken.
She couldn't answer him. Her arm lowered, the phone just falling out of her hand. She picked it up before she took off walking away from the wreckage, heading to the one place she could think of, and that was Kinzie's warehouse, just a few miles away.
"No, Pierce, it wasn't worth it," the Boss whispered, the slew of emotions she'd held in since Johnny's death at Phillipe Loren's hand on that damned plane breaking free. "It wasn't worth it...I fucked up. I should have let Killbane go and gone after Shaundi..." She shut off the shower and wrapped the towel around herself, heading back into the bedroom as her phone rang. She answered it and set it on the nightstand. "Pierce?"
"What're you doin', Boss?" Pierce asked, his words slurred a bit. "We're missin' you down here at the Broken Shillelagh. Oleg, Birk, Kinzie, everyone's down here but you. Where you at?"
"I'm staying in tonight, Pierce. And it sounds like you've been drinking a while," the Boss said, cracking a small smile as she got dressed. "I don't much feel like being out in public tonight. I've just been thinking--"
"Yeah, that's dangerous as fuck for you to be doin'," Pierce said, and the Boss could swear he was rolling his eyes again.
"Fuck you, Pierce," she growled, shaking her head. "I've been thinking about Shaundi and everyone we've lost, that's all. I still...I still can't justify what I did by going after Killbane instead of Kia on Magarac Island. I know you're still pretty pissed off at me for that."
"You're damned right I am, Boss. Shaundi's been your best girl and your best friend since we left Stilwater. You fuckin' let her die and for what? Some washed out Luchadore you'd only known a few weeks? What the fuck were you thinking?" Pierce asked, setting his beer down. "You can't answer that, can you?"
"No, Pierce! I can't!" the Boss yelled, kicking the door and breaking it off of the hinges. "I can't fucking answer that! If I could, I wouldn't be thinking about eating my fucking gun so I could see her and Gat again! But no, all you see is your next fucking Saints Flow shoot and the next target and waiting for my next orders. I'm sitting in Safeword and thinking about putting my fucking gun in my mouth, Pierce! But you're too busy drinking your fucking problems away and probably getting sucked off under the table to really fucking care! Go to Hell, Pierce!" She hung up on him and threw the phone across the room, watching it sail through the air and shatter on the wall in the hallway. _________________________________
Across town at the Broken Shillelagh, Pierce blinked as he heard the line go dead. In all of his years working with the Boss, he'd never heard her snap or lose her temper like that at any of them in the gang. He set his beer down and picked up his phone again, starting to dial the Boss once more before he saw Oleg and Kinzie grabbing their things.
"Where the hell ya'll goin'?" Pierce asked. "We're next on the kareoke machine! I already put our song in!"
"We need to be there for the Boss," Kinzie said as she turned around and glared at Pierce, her eyes hard. "After she killed Killbane that day, Pierce, do you know where she fucking went? She came to my warehouse. I've never see her like she was. She looked haunted, and I took her guns away from her because I was scared for her. YOu've never seen her vulnerable, have you? Heartbroken at the fact that someone else she loved, a new friend to the Gang, and a man she idolized had been killed because she helped Angel instead of saving Shaundi? She's been beating herself up for a month about this, Pierce! But you don't fucking care."
"Kinzie is right, my friend," Oleg said. "We have neglected the Boss on this as we have been rebuilding our own lives after our war with the Syndicate. We are going to do the right thing for once."
"Man, whatever. The Boss's been through worse then this. She'll get over it," Pierce said, turning back to the dartboard and picking up his darts again. That was the last thing he did before he felt Kinzie's fist in his face, knocking him to the floor. "The hell!?" He looked up and saw Kinzie in all of her five feet six inches of anger looming over him, and he tried to scramble away before he felt her drag him to his feet and slam him into the bar. "Oleg! Get this crazy redhead off of me!"
"You brought this upon yourself, my friend," Oleg said, barely hiding a smirk as he watched Kinzie manhandle Pierce. "Kinzie, do not kill him just yet."
"I don't plan on killing him right now," Kinzie growled, slugging Pierce again. "You selfish bastard! The Boss has always been there for you! Always done everything you've needed, gone along with all of your fucking crazy ass plans and schemes, and she's always been there when you needed a friend! And the one time she shows a goddamned weakness and you won't get your balls out of your hand and be there for her!? You're not any better then Killbane to me, Pierce. You aren't even worth the name Saint." She threw him back into the table he was at, knocking the beer bottles over and into the ground. "Go fuck yourself, Pierce." She turned and walked out, climbing into her car and clenching the steering wheel tightly.
Oleg walked out behind her, kneeling down so he could see Kinzie in the car. "Are you alright?"
"No," Kinzie sighed. "He's such a selfish bitch, Oleg. The Boss has always been there, but now Pierce is more willing to drink his problems away. Fuck him. Let's go." She watched Oleg get in the bed of her car, taking off for the other side of Steelport to Safeword. ______________________________
Having picked up the peices of her broken phone, the Boss sank down onto the couch and drew her knees up again, her hands shaking as she felt tears falling down her cheeks. "I got Johnny killed, I let everyone down, I let Shaundi die...what kind of Boss am I?" she mumbled, looking at the tattoo on her hand. "SHaundi, I'm so sorry..."
Kinzie sighed as the elevator dinged, the doors opening to the penthouse of Safeword. "Boss?" she asked, looking around. She heard the sounds of sniffling, and she followed the sound. "Boss?"
Looking up, the Boss sighed. "Kinzie...you should have stayed at the bar with Pierce."
"Fuck him," Kinzie said, running over and sitting beside th Boss on the couch, Oleg standing behind them. "You've been there when he's needed you, and now he won't put his beer down long enough to help you. He's useless." She put her hand on the Boss's arm, looking at her. "Boss? Talk to me."
The Boss just sighed, wiping her eyes softly. "It's been a month since Shaundi and the others died because I went after Killbane. I go to that goddamn grave every two days, Kinzie, and I sit and talk to her, try and make an excuse for what I did and try and justify it but I fucking can't! I can't justify a damned thing and that pisses me off. I let my best friend die because I wanted Killbane's head. I watched from the airport as Magarac Island blew up, taking my best friend in the blast as that goddamned statue crashed down on top of her. How do you live with something like that? Johnny, Shaundi, Viola. How many more of my friends have to get killed before I figure out enough's enough?"
Kinzie put her hand on the Boss's cheek. "You told me that living after your friends died is by putting one foot in front of the other, and living like they'd want you to live, Boss. Shaundi may be dead, but she isn't gone," she said. "SHe's still right here." She pointed to the Boss's heart. "And here." She tapped the tattoo on her hand. "Shaundi's always with you, Boss. Even if you can't see her. Just like Johnny."
The Boss smiled a little, wiping her eyes. "When'd you get so smart?" she asked, making Kinzie laugh.
"I'm always going to be smart, Boss. I just know what it means to have your heart broken," Kinzie said, smiling.
"Laura," the Boss said.
"What?" Oleg and Kinzie asked.
"My name," the Boss said. "Laura. You can't call me Boss all the time. Either of you tell Pierce, I'll kill both of you in your sleep. Which won't be hard to do seeing as Oleg's been spending most of his nights at your warehouse."
Kinzie's face just got red, and she rolled her eyes. "YOu can't prove that."
"The night I stayed there after Shaundi died. Oleg was making you scream in four languages and you were limping the next morning when you made coffee," the Boss smirked. "Besides, when we saved him from Loren's building, all three of us saw what the big man's packing." She grinned as Kinzie's face got redder, and Oleg just started to laugh.
"You're not helping!" Kinzie said, turning and glaring at Oleg. "Why didn't you tell me!?"
"You never asked," Oleg said, putting his hand on Kinzie's shoulder. "Calm yourself, Kinzie."
Kinzie just fumed, folding her arms over her chest. "Jerks. Both of you."
"You love us and you know it," the Boss said with a smile, hugging Kinzie. "Tell you what. Let's order a pizza and watch something stupid on a sixty inch television."
"Sounds good to me," Kinzie said with a small smile, Oleg nodding in agreement.
The wounds from Shaundi's death would stay with the Boss for a long time, but she also knew that in that time, she'd heal as long as she kept her friends close and remembered Shaundi as she was.
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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 21, 2017 12:30:22 GMT -5
Borderlands 2: We're Not Friends Anymore, Are We?
"We're not friends anymore, are we?"
That was the thought running through Gaige's head as she came out of The Fridge, over the Highlands, retook Overlook from Jack. The same thought as she infiltrated Opportunity, killed Jack's body double, took on the murdering CEO's voice and overtook the BNK3R before she came to Control Core Angel and saw the truth. She fought her way through endless Gun Loaders and ION Loaders, Badass and WAR Loaders, only to take down Angel's Eridium injectors. She felt a tug on her heart as she heard Angel call her father an asshole before she slipped into death. Then it had all gone to hell. Roland was killed, Lilith taken by Jack and the Crimson Raiders weren't sure they'd be able to end the war with Hyperion.
Now, two months later after fighting Professor Nakiyama, becoming the #1 Badass on Pandora by way of Torgue's Tournament and other assorted feats, Gaige found herself sitting in the remains of Control Core Angel, her back against one of the pillars that had held the poor girl captive.
"We're not friends anymore, are we?"
"Of course we were," Gaige sighed, drawing her knees up and looking down. "We were still friends, Angel. I just wish I'd have been able to save you and keep you alive. You didn't deserve what he did to you..."
She stayed sitting on the floor for what felt like hours, remembering a lot of Angel's words from the first moment she took the ECHO from Claptrap in Windshear Waste. She sighed, wiping her eyes and shaking her head. "You got hurt because of Jack. I wish I could have had my dad meet you. I think he would have liked you," she said. "We could have taken you all over the Galaxy to have fun. Eden-6 and their planet-wide carnivals. Oh, that would have been fun. Or even playing Bunkers and Badasses with Tina. Well....maybe not with Tina. I hope you're in a better place, Angel."
As Gaige got up, she dusted her legs off, weeks worth of dust falling around her and back onto the ground. She too the Vault Symbol pendant off of her belt and laid it on the floor in the containment unit, smiling softly. "THe Vault's treasures were nothing compared to having a friend like you," she said, walking out and pulling the heavy door closed with her mechanical arm. "That was the real treasure. I can find Captain Blade's Treasure of the Sands, loot a million chests and get as much money as I can carry, but that's nothing compared to being a good friend."
Gaige walked out, tapping the elevator button and heading for the surface. After trading a white-rarity pistol she didn't want into the Guns Vendor and getting a couple hundred dollars, she turned and walked down the rocky path, tapping the Fast Travel Station and headed for Sanctuary where Lilith had told her that Brick and Mordecai had captured Athena, a former Vault Hunter who had been living in Hollow Point for a few years after an event on Elpis. She disappeared into the light, hoping that Angel's soul was finally at rest.
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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 21, 2017 12:31:17 GMT -5
Avatar The Last Airbender: Why Does It Rain? [E]
Zuko smiled as he watched his daughter sit on the windowsil of her room, giggling as she drew on her window with her fingers, watching the rain pouring down over the Fire Nation. He walked over and sat on the sil beside her, moving some of her hair out of her eyes.
"Are you having fun, Izumi?" he asked, kissing his daughter's head.
"Yeah, Daddy," Izumi said with a smile. "The rain's pretty. And it smells good outside after it's over." She climbed up in her father's lap, snuggling back against him. She bit her lip a little, a trait Zuko knew she inherited from her mother. "Daddy?"
"Hm?" Zuko asked, reaching over and grabbing his daughter's hairbrush before he started moving it through her hair as had become their own little custom every night.
"Why's it rain? What's rain made of?" Izumi asked, looking up at her father.
Zuko thought for a few minutes, brushing Izumi's hair softly as he did. "Well...your mommy always said that it was from the Spirit World. She said it was the tears that your family would shed as they watched you grow up without them," he said. "Like your Grandmother Ursa."
Izumi nodded, playing with her fingers lightly. "Is it Mommy crying cause she's sad, Daddy?" she asked, looking down slightly. "Is Mommy sad she can't hug me anymore? Or read me bedtime stories?"
Zuko felt his heart break. He set the brush down and hugged Izumi tightly, kissing her head softly. "Yes, sweetheart. The rain is Mommy crying because she loves you and she wishes that she could be here to see you grow up and become Queen one day," he whispered.
"Can I go see Mommy?" Izumi asked. She looked up at Zuko, tears in her blue eyes that were so like her mother's.
"We can see Mommy when it stops raining. But right now, we can go see Mommy's picture," Zuko said, lifting Izumi up as he stood up and walked out of his daughter's room. Walking through the halls of the Fire Nation's Palace, Zuko told Izumi stories of her mother. From the time on Kyoshi Island to when she had become his Captain of the Guard after the Hundred Years War. He told her everything, knowing she had the right to know about her mother.
"Mommy sounds like a hero," Izumi giggled, looking up at her father.
"She was," Zuko said, kissing Izumi's head as he stopped at a wall with a large picture. "And with every day you get older, Izumi, you look more and more like Suki. She'd be proud of you as you got older."
Izumi smiled brightly, reaching up and putting her hand on Suki's picture. "Don't cry anymore, Mommy. Daddy's gonna take care of me. I know you're watching me grow up. You don't have to be sad anymore."
Zuko smiled softly, giving Izumi a gentle squeeze. "She's right, Suki. You don't have to be sad anymore. I'm not going to let anything happen to her," he whispered.
"Love you, Mommy," Izumi said with a smile, snuggling back against her father. She looked over at the window and smiled. "It stopped raining, Daddy!"
"See? Mommy's not sad anymore. Because she knows you're going to be a strong girl when you get older," Zuko said, walking to the window. "I got an idea. You want to go outside?"
"Yes please," Izumi giggled, smiling up at her father. As they walked through the palace again, Izumi hummed and sang to herself, sometimes hearing Zuko with her. "THat was Mommy's song, Daddy. The one she used to sing me."
"I remember," Zuko said, smiling softly. He walked outside, seeing puddles on the ground and people opening their doors for the first time in a week. "You said you like how it smells after it rains, right? Well, let's sit out in the stable for a few minutes and smell the rain. We can brush Mommy's horse, ok?"
Izumi smiled. "Oks, Daddy," she said, hugging her father's neck. She took a deep breath and smiled. "It smells like Mommy. I wish this would stay. That way I know Mommy's near all the time."
"She is, Izumi," Zuko said. "Right here." He pointed to his daughter's heart, making her giggle as he did. "She's right there all the time. And she's always with you in Spirit."
Izumi smiled softly and nodded. "I know, Daddy. Still doesn't stop me from wishing hard. Wishes can come true, you know." She poked Zuko's nose and giggled, rubbing her eyes.
"I know wishes can come true," Zuko said with a smile. "You and Suki were two of my biggest wishes ever to come true. And I wouldn't trade that for anything."
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Post by FangZeronos on Dec 4, 2017 17:46:35 GMT -5
Overwatch: Healers and Heartbreak
Dr. Angela Ziegler, known to the world at large as Overwatch's resident healer and 'angel' Mercy, will always remember the day she first met Genji Shimada. Commander Morrison and Ana Amari had brought him in, near death and looking as if he'd been in a massive battle which she'd found out later that he had been in a fight to the death with his own brother. She used all of her resources to do her best to fix him, eventually getting him to respond to her.
"How do you feel, Genji?" she asked one morning as she walked into his room, watching him as he tested his cybernetic limbs that had replaced his legs and right arm. "I know it takes some getting used to, but it's the first time we've done replacement on a scale like this. McCree and Torbjorn are different because it's only one arm, but to replace three of your limbs--"
"It's fine, Doctor. You need not explain to me," Genji replied, his voice off to his own ears as he stopped the good doctor's ramblings. "I understand the extents of my injuries from my brother. He was doing his job, and I cannot fault him for this. Only myself for wishing not to partake in my family's illegal legacy." He stood and wobbled, finding his balance. "Am I needed in your office?"
"Just some minor tweaks that you asked about," Dr. Ziegler said with a smile. "I can bring a wheelchair in if you'd rather not walk."
"How will I get used to these if I do not test them, Doctor?" Genji asked.
"Very well, Genji. If you'll follow me downstairs," she said as she turned and headed for the door. She opened it and waited for Genji, watching him attempt to walk. "Just be slow, Genji. Your legs might feel heavy."
"My entire body feels off, Doctor," Genji said. He walked behind Angela for the entire way, his hand wanting to find the wall and guide him, but he forced himself to not rely on it like a child would.
"Take a seat, Genji," Angela said, making her way over to him and pulling gloves on, helping him sit slowly. "You asked for some adjustments on the drive wheels, correct? A bit faster?"
"Yes," Genji said. "I feel sluggish, and it's not a feeling I need if I'm to go into battle like Commander Morrison says will happen in time." He watched as Angela started to work, taking tools and adjusting his limbs.
As time passed, Angela fell silent, the only sounds filling the room being what she was doing to Genji, the sounds of tools working. After an hour of working, she looked at Genji who was staring into the distance. "Genji? How are you coping with this?" she asked, her voice low.
The young man was quiet for a minute as he thought. "It...is difficult, Dr. Ziegler," Genji admitted finally. "I am incapable of doing what I used to love. I would go to the arcade near my family's house and spend hours inside, live a higher life then I probably should have. I know that life is behind me."
Angela nodded, setting her tools down finally. "Alright. Let's see how you feel now," she said, standing up and pulling hr stool out of the way, helping Genji to stand. "Give me a walk around my office, Genji."
Genji nodded, starting to walk around and going for a while before he stopped. "Much better, Doctor. Thank you," he said.
Angela smiled and put her hand on Genji's arm. 'You're welcome, Genji," she said. She glanced at the clock. "Hm. Near noon. Would you care to join me for lunch?"
Genji looked at Angela and nodded. "I would," he said with a small smile. "Thank you."
Together they walked down to the cafeteria, Angela talking about her research just to fill the silence. As they made their way inside, they heard the coming to be all to familiar sounds of Tracer, Lena Oxton, as she sat and talked with resident scientist and gorilla Winston.
"Doc!" Tracer said with a grin, up and over to Angela and Genji in a flash thanks to the chronal accelerator on her chest. "Thought you weren't coming down today like most every other day."
Angela smiled and patted Tracer's shoulder. "Calm down, Tracer. You're always so excitable. I thought I'd see what was for lunch today," she said. "And I asked Genji to come with me."
Tracer looked beside Angela, seeing the young man. "Oh. It's nice to meet you, Genji," she said with a smile.
Genji bowed his head. "And you, Tracer," he said.
"We'll be at the table in a moment, Lena," Angela said with a smile. "Go."
"Yep!" She took off and sat back across from Winston like nothing had happened.
Angela shook her head, leading Genji towards the line that was backed up with janitors, technicians, and other random staff of Overwatch. Finally making their way to the front and getting their food of choice, the pair heading for the table where Tracer was talking excitedly with Winston about her latest training with McCree.
"He's bloody fast on the draw!" she said. "I blinked and barely dodged the rounds!"
"Jesse is fascinating," Winston said. "To be that quick is astonishing." He looked up and smiled when Angela and Genji sat down. "Good afternoon, Dr. Ziegler."
"Good afternoon, Winston," Angela said with a smile. "Winston, this is Genji. The young man Jack and Ana brought in a few weeks ago."
"Pleased to meet you, Genji," Winston said, bowing his head softly.
"And you," Genji responded. He bowed his head and turned to his lunch, picking up his chopsticks and starting to eat slowly. The table was silent for a few minutes, Genji finally breaking the silence and growling as he tossed the chopsticks down and pushed his bowl back.
"Genji? What's wrong?" Angela asked. "Too hot?"
"I do not know," Genji said, looking away. "I cannot taste it. I can smell it, see it, touch it, but I cannot taste it. It does not register on my tongue."
Angela looked down at her own lunch, biting her lip. "It might be because of the cybernetics I installed to save your life," she whispered. "I didn't think about that, Genji. I'm sorry."
Genji shook his head. "It's fine," he said, getting up and throwing his lunch away, walking out of the cafeteria and down the hall, his hands clenching as he did.
Nobody saw Genji for nearly two weeks after that, the young man hiding away in his room. When his next appointment with the doctor came around, Genji made his way through the base, pushing Angela's office door open. "DOctor."
Angela jumped, dropping the papers in her hand onto the floor. "Genji...where have you been? We've been looking for you," she said, kneeling down and picking up her papers.
"I did not want to be found," Genji said. "I was hiding in my quarters. After the other day at lunch, I felt I did not deserve to be seen by anyone. I only appeared today for my diagnostic and check up. Otherwise I would have had more problems."
"WHat kind of problems?" Angela asked, pulling her labcoat on after setting her papers to the side.
"My arms are not in sync. My mechanical one is faster then my human one," Genji said. "I want it replaced with a cybernetic one to make the speed the same. Having a slower limb in combat would put my comrades in danger."
Angela stopped, her hands lowering as she looked at Genji. She was silent, absorbing everything he said. She sighed, looking away. "....would it be alright if I referred your request to the Commander?" she asked, her voice low.
Genji nodded. "As you wish."
Angela narrowed her eyes. "If I could do as I wished, I would pretend I did not hear what you just asked," she said. "It's fine to put Overwatch and the mission aside for your own health, Genji. Replacing a healthy limb with an artifical one for no reason is absolute madness."
"Healthy limb?" Genji asked, lifting his left arm where tubes to help control his medication from the implants rested on his forearm. "I'm trained to combat enemies in the field, Dr. Ziegler. Having unsychronized limbs is a liability."
"Do not talk like that!" Angela snapped. "You're not a weapon, Genji! YOu're still human! Damn it, stop talking like you're not!"
Genji was off of the chair and in Angela's face, the doctor yelling as her back hit the wall. His eyes glowed a dark red, narrowing into slits. "I'm not a weapon? Isn't that why you were ordered by Commander Morrison to save my life? If I am not a weapon, then why did you not just let me die?" he asked, growling as he did. "If I'm not to be a weapon, perhaps you should have left me alone."
Angela felt her heart thundering in her chest, looking up at Genji with fear in her eyes, but something else behind the fear-confusion, sadness, hope? She wasn't sure. She pushed Genji away from her, turning and running for the case in the back of her lab that held her Valkyrie Suit, gun, and Caduceus Staff. She threw the door open, reaching into the case and, through the tears stinging her eyes, blindly grabbed for something.
"You picked the wrong weapon, Doctor," Genji said, a dark chuckle in his voice as he stared down her Staff.
Angela yelled out, swinging wide and smacking Genji in the face with the end of the Staff, slamming it repeatedly into his head and chest as he hit the ground, her screams filling the lab as she did. "DAMN YOU!" she yelled. "Damn you, Genji! I saved your life! I gave you a second chance! I did not save you to make you a weapon! I do not like hearing you talk like this! YOu're better then that, and you know it! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Finally wearing herself out, Angela panted as she sank to her knees on the floor, the Staff falling from her hands as she buried her head against her palms.
Genji stayed still, sitting up slowly before he stood. ".....I'm sorry," he whispered, turning and walking out, the door shutting behind him as his footsteps receeded down the hallway.
Angela fell backwards against the case, bringing her knees up as she started to sob, her shoulders shaking as her hair fell around her face. "Oh, Genji....I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears streaking down her face slowly.
As the rest of the day passed, Angela did not move from her spot on the floor, her tears finally running out as her shoulders continued to shake. Tracer walked down the hall, having been asked by Commander Morrison to check on her since she wasn't answering.
"Doc?" Tracer asked, pushing the door open. "Doc, you in here, love? Commander's worried about you and asked me to look in on you." She made her way inside, hearing sniffling from the corner. "Doc?" She walked over and knelt down, picking up the Staff and setting it back in the case, seeing the black and red scuff marks on it before she sat beside Angela. "Doc? Talk to me."
"What have I done, Lena?" Angela asked, her voice shaking. "What have I done to him...?"
Lena felt her heart break for Angela. She wrapped her arms around her friend and rubbed her back, not knowing what to say. "S'ok, Angie," she whispered. "S'ok. He'll come 'round eventually. S'ok...."
Nobody saw Genji after that, the young man disappearing from the base and leaving no signs except for a single note pinned to his door and a sparrows feather attatched.
Angela,
I am sorry for how I reacted the last time I saw you. I have trouble coping with what I've become, and I took that anger out on you and I had no right to do so. I hope someday you can forgive me of my actions, and that I can learn to work past my anger.
Please do not come look for me. I know that you would want to do so or have a team assigned to find me, but it is better if you do not. I am unsure of where I am going, but I hope that soon I will be able to tell you where I am. I hope this finds you and I hope you accept an informal apology from a foolish child.
Sincerely and regretfully,
Genji
Angela found the note on her desk, Lena having snagged it and taken it down to her. As the doctor read the paper several times, she felt her heart sink just a bit more each time. "Genji...I hope that you can soon forgive me for what I've done to you," she whispered. "I am so sorry..."
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Post by FangZeronos on Mar 20, 2018 15:09:01 GMT -5
Legends of Tomorrow: Broken Bird (Spoilers for Season 3 Episode 15 "Necromancing The Stone")
Sara sank onto the bed, staring at the wall. She knew she’d fucked up by pushing Ava away. Ava who had just helped bring her back from Mallus a second time. Dropping her head into her hands, the normally unflinching captain of the Waverider felt the first makings of tears in her eyes, not moving to brush them away.
“Goddamn it,” she muttered, falling back onto the bed as her head landed on the pillow. She put a shaking hand onto the pillow, Ava’s scent wafting into her nose as she closed her eyes. Feeling a piece of paper under hand, she pulled it out and sat up, wiping her eyes.
Opening it, the paper read “This spot reserved for the girlfriend of Sara Lance” in beautiful lettering. Sara felt her heart break again, setting the note to the side and clutching the pillow in her arms.
“Damn it!” she yelled, slamming her fist into the wall, feeling her knuckles split before she hit the wall several times more, each strike bloodying her hand a bit more. “Goddamn it!” She screamed and threw the pillow back onto the bed, her hands clenching. “I keep losing everyone! Nyssa, Laurel, Leonard…now Ava. Why do I lose everyone I care for? What’s wrong with me?!”
Sara sank onto the floor, drawing her knees up and not caring about her bloody hand. She buried her head in her arms and lap, shoulders shaking as she felt the tears fall down her face. She was like that for a while before a familiar voice filled the air.
“Captain?” Gideon asked, her voice concerned for Sara.
“Not now, Gideon. Please…” Sara whispered.
“I know this isn’t a good time. And I am sorry, but…”
Sara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and wiping her eyes. “But what, Gideon?” she asked, looking at her bloodied hand before she stood up and walked to her sink. “What, Gideon?”
Gideon was silent. “Two things that should be brought to your attention. First, a file that Director Hunter asked me to delete, 357-A, that I backed up to your personal computer. I do not know the contents of it, but I know it has to do with Director Sharpe…as much as you might not want to see that right now.”
“After the mess I just made with Ava, I don’t….think I want to see that file just yet,” Sara said, turning on the water and holding her hands under the sink, the hot scalding her cut hand before she splashed water on her face to erase the tear marks. She dried her hands and face, wrapping gauze around the cut. “What’s the second thing?”
“We’ve received a call from S.T.A.R. Labs. Dr. Snow said your father’s there and wishes to speak to you.”
“Alright. I’ll take the jumpship,” Sara sighed. “I could use the distraction from my own heart. Tell Amaya and the others and I’m leaving her in charge. Don’t let Rory blow up the ship, please.”
“I’ll do my best, Captain.” Gideon said.
Sara gathered a bag and her suit and some clothes, giving one last look to her bed before she walked out, the door closing behind her as she headed for the Jumpship, praying that nothing was wrong with her father or mother. She knew she had a problem to fix with Ava, and she hoped talking to her father would help.
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Post by FangZeronos on Jun 19, 2018 11:14:38 GMT -5
Confessions (set between episodes 6x2 and 6x3 of Voltron Legendary Defender)
“He said what?” Allura asked with a slight giggle and smile, looking at the four mice on her vanity. They squeaked and ran in a circle before two of them put their tails together as a heart. Her eyes saddened and fell, and her hands fell into her lap, her posture sinking as she seemed to deflate from the news of her mice friends. “Oh…”
Allura readied herself to sleep, finding it a difficult thing to come by. She settled to pacing her room, her arms wrapped around herself. She seemed to always know of Lance’s feelings for her, ever since the first time she saw him and the other Paladins when they arrived in the Castle. His constant flirtatious attitude did nothing to persuade her that he was merely joking, and for once, she didn’t know what to do.
Dressing in her suit once more, the Princess making her way through the Castle and passing the other rooms, knocking on Lance’s door. After a minute of waiting, she overrode the panel, opening the door. “Lance?” she asked, looking around. “Not here.” She backed out and shut the door again, making her way toward the training room, looking down from the control booth. “Not here either.” She sighed and made her way for the bridge, finally seeing him sitting at his console and looking upset. “Lance?”
Lance looked up in surprise, seeing Allura. “Allura!” he said, jumping up. “What—what are you doing here?”
“Looking for you, actually,” Allura said, sighing as she made her way over and sat on the steps leading up to her normal platform for the teludav. “We need to talk, Lance, and it’s something that needs to be said before things get out of hand and a mission gets jeopardized or worse.” She folded her arms over her stomach, looking over at the young man.
Lance sighed softly, sitting back down. “The mice, huh?” he asked, kicking at the ground. “Little traitors…”
Allura looked at Lance and shook her head. “Not entirely the mice,” she said. “Lance, since you’ve all been here, I have noticed your behavior when it comes to me. The flirting or trying to flirt, the way you act when you talk to me, or how you respond when it comes to people outside of the Paladins, Coran, and Lotor. But this must stop. You know that for all your incessant flirting and acting like a fool, you could get someone killed when we’re on a mission.”
“I know, I know,” Lance sighed. “Like the other day at the Omega Shield. If I hadn’t started, we could have gotten it done faster, I get it.” He looked down, his hands clenched around his jacket softly. “I’m sorry, Allura. I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I really don’t.”
Allura looked down, hearing the slight tinges of anger in Lance’s voice, knowing that this should have waited. “I have to be honest, Lance. It does slightly make me feel uncomfortable, but I do not say anything because I feel if I did, you would get angry.” She took a chance and looked at him, seeing him rolling his eyes. “What?”
“Of course, I’d get angry, but I’d get over it,” Lance said. “If you, at any point, told me to shut up and knock it off, I would have. Ever since we first got to the Castle and all the time we’ve been a team since, if you’d have said anything, I would have stopped!”
Allura flinched back, tightening her arms around herself and stepping back slightly. She looked at Lance and suddenly found her feet more interesting, scuffing the floor with the toe of her boot lightly. “I did not mean to upset you, Lance. This was never the intention of this discussion. We need to be a coherent team and having you flirting over the comms when we’re in the middle of a dire situation, like the shields, could get someone hurt.” She sighed and looked up, seeing looking defeated. “Lance—”
“I get it, alright?” Lance asked, looking down. “Stop trying to flirt and make you fall for me. It’ll never happen since Lotor’s around, so why bother. I’ll let you and Pretty Boy get all nice and cozy.” He started to walk off, feeling Allura’s hand on his arm and making him stop. “What?”
Allura slowly removed her hand, stepping in front of Lance and looking defeated and tired. She sat down and softly patted the metal next to her, inviting him to sit. When he finally did, she folded her hands in her lap and looked down. “DO you remember our discussion the day the Red Bayard became the Broadsword?” she asked. “About mine and Shiro’s arguments?”
Lance nodded. “Yeah. You had the same look on your face and same posture as you did just now when talking to me,” he said. “Why?”
Allura sighed, drawing her knees up. “Because, despite my best efforts not to do so, I have found myself in the situation you said about Lotor,” she said. “Ever since finding the stone that led to Oriande, the thought of he and I bringing Alteans back has been lingering in my mind, but I push the thoughts to the side because I know it could jeopardize the mission at hand. The touches and lingering looks, the gazes he gives me when I’m working on these ships…I don’t know how to describe it, Lance.”
Lance nodded, listening to Allura. “Sounds to me like you’re falling in love,” he said. “Everything he does makes you smile or give you hope, he’s encouraging about Altean stuff because that’s one thing you two share. I can’t say I know what it’s like to be the last of a species, Allura. All I know is that Altea and its history and past are something you want to hold onto, and if having Lotor help is the way for you to do that, then I guess I can step to the side and let it happen.”
Allura, for the first time, had the faintest trace of a smile on her face. “Thank you, Lance, but…there is something else that bothers me.”
“What?” Lance asked, turning and facing Allura.
Allura bit her lip softly, looking down again. She was silent for a few moments, tapping her fingers against her leg softly. She knew she’d be getting into something extremely personal, but she knew it had to be talked about otherwise she’d never come to terms with what was going on inside of her mind. She needed to vocalize her conflicts to be able to move on, so she steeled herself again and turned to face Lance.
“To be entirely honest, it also has to do with Shiro,” she said. “Before the battle with Zarkon when he disappeared out of the Black Lion, I had found myself…in a similar situation with him regarding my feelings for him much like with Lotor. When we found that he was gone, I felt real fear for the first time since my father’s death. I felt like someone else I cared for was gone and I could do nothing about it. When Keith found him in that ship, floating along without power…my heart soared because we had him back. Hearing his voice, seeing him standing there, watching him. I felt like things would be alright again.”
“Then you two started having problems because of Lotor and him going behind your back,” Lance said. “Allura…have you ever sat to try and figure out your feelings for Shiro and for Lotor?”
Allura shook her head softly. “No. And I think that might be my problem. Shiro and I have always been equals when it comes to Voltron. Ever since you all first came here, he’s had you all do what I say, and I have backed him in nearly every decision he’s made.” She sighed softly, rubbing her arms. “I suppose I have a choice on my hands…”
“And it’s one you need to make before things go bad,” Lance said, putting his hand on Allura’s arm. “And if it makes up for what I’ve done in the past, whatever choice you make I’ll support.” He smiled a bit, moving his hand back.
Allura smiled softly, nodding. “Thank you, Lance,” she said. She stood up and held her hand out, Lance taking it as she helped him up. “Now. We should get some rest. Coran wants us all up tomorrow for a game that he wishes us all to be part of.”
Lance nodded. “Alright,” he said. “Good night, Princess.” He put his hand on her shoulder and headed off the bridge, making his way back for his room.
Allura sighed softly, looking at her hands and making her way towards her room, running differing scenarios in her head. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Lance was right on both counts. When it came to Lotor, she knew that helping him would hopefully help restore Altean culture or her people; but on the other hand, when it came to Shiro, she couldn’t help the ache in her heart every time they would start to argue or start to snap at each other. She clenched her hands and shut the door to her room, sitting on the edge of the bed and pressed her hands to her eyes.
“What do I do…?” she muttered to herself, letting her head drop into her hands. While she was glad to have cleared things up with Lance and hopefully put that behind them, she couldn’t help but feel that the talk had opened two brand new problems, ones she’d have to deal with in the coming days as the battle with the splitting Galra Empire came to a head.
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Post by FangZeronos on Aug 10, 2018 8:11:57 GMT -5
Fires and Starlight (Voltron Legendary Defender)
It had been two days since Allura transferred Shiro’s soul-or was it consciousness? -back into his body from the Black Lion. With the team sitting on the nearly barren planet and getting some rest before starting their long trek back to Earth, Shiro sat up and stared at the fire keeping them warm, poking at the flames softly with what he assumed was a stick. Nearly a year outside of his own body, time was almost foreign to him again.
“I died, Keith.”
Allura’s hands on the Black Lion, absorbing his consciousness, placing him in the clone’s body. Memories of the last months flooding his mind, from escaping the Galra—“Project Kuron stage three is in progress.”—feeling helpless when the Black Lion didn’t respond to him when Keith was on a Blades mission—“I need to help my friends. You have to let me help!”—the near endless battles, fighting Zarkon for Sam Holt, Coran’s insane plays thanks to the brain bug. Then the darker memories flooded him, his heart thundering against his chest.
“Give up the fight, Keith! I’ve already taken care of the team. You’re the only one left!” he said, pinning Keith to the ground in the cloning facility.
“Shiro, you’re my brother! I love you!” Keith had yelled, breaking the clones concentration.
He remembered the pain of the severed robotic arm, falling unconscious until now.
Opening his eyes, getting blinded by the first real sunlight he’d seen in almost a year. The worried and smiling faces of the man he considered a brother and the woman he’d come to care for, even if he knew he’d never vocalize it.
“You found me…” he’d whispered.
“Rest,” Allura said with a small smile, putting her hand on his.
“Rest,” Shiro muttered. “Feels like all I’ve done is rest while they’ve been fighting. I’ve seen the fighting, I’ve seen everything, but it still feels so unreal.” He got up and walked away from the fire, walking over to the Lions who were circling their camp, stepping between sleeping bags and makeshift mattresses that housed his friends and even some new faces in Romelle. He walked over to Black and climbed inside, sighing as he sat in the cockpit and put his hand on the console. “Thanks, Black. You saved my life, but…at what cost? Keith’s your Paladin now, so what am I?”
He laid his head back and closed his eyes, sighing softly before his eyes snapped open with a new memory.
He was helping Pidge, his Galra arm being used to power the Omega Shield before another band of solar radiation could strike the planet. He gasped and saw himself facing the White Lion, the same that Allura had submitted to in Oriande. The White Lion lunged and snapped its jaws around his body, sending him flinching back and breaking the connection.
A new image popped up, the same White Lion but this time mechanized, looking regal and standing with the other Lions on a scorched battlefield, Galra fighters and cruisers lining the area for miles as they surveyed the end of the war with the Galra. The lions came together to form Voltron, the White Lion roaring as it leapt into the air, coming apart and attaching as new armor and a new mask for Voltron, armor coating its arms and torso with giant white wings.
Shiro’s heart thundered as he sat up, putting his hand on his chest. “What in the world…?” he muttered. He got up and left the Black Lion, stumbling out and sinking to his knees beside its massive head, leaning back against it and panting softly.
“Shiro?” Allura’s voice asked as she walked up, fear in her normally passive blue eyes. She knelt beside him and put her hand on his arm. “Are you alright? You look distressed.”
Shiro sighed softly, looking at Allura. “Allura, if I’m being honest, I’m not alright,” he said. “I died, got saved by the Black Lion, watched and wasn’t able to tell anyone what was going on. I watched Lotor get distressingly close to you, the team fall apart and come back together, Keith go off and be a Blade, my clone take over, watch my friends nearly die a thousand times over, and now I’m sitting on a desert planet with a missing arm, getting flashes of a life that isn’t mine, and flashes of something else that I don’t know what it means. I can’t sleep because when I close my eyes, I get bombarded with a life that I don’t know. I keep seeing a freaking White Lion and Voltron, and right now I am the furthest thing from alright.” He looked at Allura and then tore his eyes away, looking out at the distance. “And now we’re going back to Earth and I’m…terrified of returning because of how I left things with someone I thought I could spend my life with. I’m a different person then when I left for the Kerberos mission and…I don’t want him to see me like I am.”
Allura listened to Shiro vent, and she reached over and put her hand on his. “I’m sure that you’re still the same person you were before. There’s just been some changes in the time you’ve been gone,” she said. “I can’t understand what it was like for you, Shiro. Being dead versus being in cryosleep for ten thousand years is vastly different, but I do feel some sorrow that we did not figure it out sooner. I’m sure that whoever you have back on Earth, he’ll feel the same way I do.”
“And what way is that, Allura?” Shiro asked as he turned his head away, not meeting her eyes.
Allura put her hand on Shiro’s cheek softly, making him look at her. “I am just happy that you are alive and back with us,” she said. “And yes, we have a surplus of Paladins and a shortage of Lions, but given time, perhaps you can pilot Black once again and lead us to the end of the war.”
Shiro nodded softly. “Maybe,” he said. “If she lets me.”
“She will,” Allura said. “The Lions Quintessence is reflected in their Paladins. Yes, we have had to shuffle around due to circumstance, but things as they were before might happen again.” Something he said finally clicked in her mind, and she turned to face him. “You said something about a White Lion?”
“Yes,” Shiro said. “When you were at the Omega Shield and Pidge used my arm to connect with the systems to get the shield up, there was a moment when…I was facing a white lion. It roared and bit down on me, but…other then that, I don’t know what it was. And earlier when I was in Black after getting up from the fire, I saw another vision or a dream or whatever it was, and we were on Earth and there were six Lions, but when Voltron formed, the White Lion became armor and wings and a new face for Voltron. I don’t…know what it means, but I remember you said something about a White Lion when you were in Oriande.”
Allura nodded. “It’s interesting,” she said. “I remember the White Lion and felt like it was more then just an illusion to keep people out of Oriande. Sometimes, dreams can be a way to see into the future. Perhaps we’ll be able to either find or make this White Lion in the future.”
Nodding, Shiro sighed as he looked up at the stars. “I didn’t say it before, Allura, but thank you,” he said, turning his head and looking at Allura. “Thank you for finding me.”
Allura looked at Shiro and smiled softly. “You have always come for me when I was in trouble. I’ll always do the same for you, Shiro,” she said. She put her hand on his and squeezed softly.
Shiro smiled softly and nodded, squeezing Allura’s hand back. “I’ll always come back for you,” he said. He stood up and helped her up. “You should rest. We’ve got a long journey until we get back to Earth.”
“You should rest too, Shiro,” Allura said. “I’ll tend the fire and you get some sleep. Pidge wanted a run on rotation, so when you’re asleep, I’ll wake her.”
Shiro smiled softly and nodded. He didn’t know why, but he leaned down and kissed Allura’s cheek, giving her hand a squeeze. “Good night, Princess,” he said. “And again, thank you for finding me.”
Allura felt herself blush, leaning up and kissing Shiro’s cheek in return. “I’ll always find you,” she said, watching him head back to the other sleeping Paladins, Romelle, and Coran. She followed behind him, her face red as she lightly touched her cheek, smiling as she knelt to start stoking the fire again. She watched Shiro lay on the ground, asleep nearly instantly as his head hit the ground. She giggled softly, walking over and draping a blanket over him, moving his hair out of his face. “Good night, Black Paladin.”
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Post by FangZeronos on Aug 22, 2018 14:12:15 GMT -5
Man in the Mirror (Voltron Legendary Defender)
Lance tore off down the hall at full speed after Pidge had told him that Keith had been found by Shiro. He feared the worst, hauling ass down to the bedrooms and skidding to a halt as Shiro walked out of Keith’s room. “Shiro!”
“Lance,” Shiro said, grabbing his arm. “Calm down. He’ll live.”
“That doesn’t give me confidence, Shiro,” Lance said. “What does that mean, he’ll live?”
Shiro sighed, shutting Keith’s door and pulling Lance away. “The Blades got ambushed by Haggar’s Druids. Kolivan said that he, Keith, and Narya were lucky to get out alive,” he said. “Krolia didn’t make it, but Keith…one of the Druids got a lucky strike. The blade went through Keith’s back and through his chest. When we got him stabilized, Kolivan noticed a change starting in him.”
“What?” Lance asked. “What kind of change?”
“His Galran DNA is taking over,” Shiro said. “We don’t know how fast it’ll spread or if it’ll slow, but right now, he’s got splotches of patchy purple skin and fur popping up.”
Lance sighed. “He’s not going to like that,” he said.
Shiro shook his head. “No, he won’t,” he said. “Look…we need someone in there in case he wakes up. I can’t be because I’ve been helping Allura with getting the teludav reconfigured. Would you mind--?”
“No,” Lance said, moving past Shiro and making his way towards Keith’s room. He walked in and sat on the chair in the corner, sighing softly as he looked at Keith laying on the bed. “You idiot…” He turned and rested his head against the wall, looking down at Keith before his eyes drooped closed.
A day later, Keith sighed as he started waking up. He looked around and blinked slowly, groaning a bit as he lifted his head up and rubbed his eyes. He let his hands fall and he sat up, his eyes landing on Lance. “Ugh…. maybe I am dead,” he muttered. “Wake up, idiot.” He grabbed the pillow and flung it at Lance, knocking him onto the floor.
Lance yelped and sat up, looking around. “Keith,” he said, putting his hand on his chest. “You’re awake. Thank God.” He tossed the pillow onto the bed and sat back in the chair, sighing softly. “You feel alright?”
“Itchy,” Keith said, absentmindedly scratching at his arms. “Where’s my mom? Last thing I remember was fighting Macidus and Mom yelling at me to get out of the way before I felt the blade in my back.”
Lance sighed softly as he looked down. “When Kolivan and Narya brought you back to the Castle…Kolivan said that Krolia didn’t make it,” he whispered. “She went after Macidus while Narya tended to you, but when Kolivan went to find your mom, Macidus was standing over her body. Kolivan ripped Macidus in half, and he took Krolia back to the Blades outpost to bury her.”
Keith’s hands clenched as tears fell down his cheeks. “That bastard,” he growled, his hands shaking against the blankets. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
“Keith,” Lance said, putting his hand on his friend’s. “Keith, calm down. Macidus is already dead, man. Kolivan took care of him.” He sighed softly, looking at his friend and he knew it was now or never. “Look, there’s something else you need to know.”
“What?” Keith snapped, glaring at Lance as his eyes turned yellow. He ripped his hand away from Lance and narrowed his eyes. “What the hell else—” He stopped when he moved his hand up, his eyes going wide. “What in the hell?”
“Whatever Macidus and the Druids did to you, your Galran DNA is coming out,” Lance whispered. “It’s turning you more Galra then human.”
“No!” Keith growled, getting up and shoving past Lance and running to the mirror, ripping his shirt off and looking at the still healing wound from the sword as well as the splotches of purple fur and skin starting to line his body. “No!”
“Keith,” Lance said, getting up and putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “It isn’t the end of the world. Krolia said that this might happen, right?”
“Not for a long time,” Keith said. He sighed and punched his mirror, shattering it and sending glass to the floor. “Now what are they going to think of me?”
“They won’t think any different of you,” Lance said. “Just like I don’t.” He took Keith’s arm and pulled the bits of glass from his hand, sighing softly as he wrapped it up. “Listen, just because you’re going purple and fuzzy doesn’t take away from the Keith we all know and love, ok? It just means you look different. It doesn’t matter.”
“What about Allura?” Keith asked. “She had a clear problem with me being half-Galra before. Now that I’m looking like one?”
Lance sighed. “And she apologized for the hateful things she said and the looks she gave you,” he said. “Allura won’t care. Shiro won’t care. Pidge, Hunk, Coran, none of them will care. I sure as hell don’t.”
Keith looked at Lance and cocked an eyebrow, pulling away from him. “Sure, Lance. Tell yourself that now.”
“I’m serious, Keith!” Lance snapped, making the former Red Paladin freeze in place. “I never cared how you looked. I never cared about beating your times in the Garrison or if we were ‘rivals’ or any of that crap! I only ever cared about you, and hearing you doubt yourself right now makes me so goddamn mad!”
Keith blinked when Lance snapped, having only heard it a couple of times and never directed at him. “Why do you care what I look like?” he asked. “Why care about me at all? You’re always all over every woman we meet, so why bother to look like you care now?”
“I don’t care what you look like. You could be green with yellow splotches and tentacles for limbs and a beak for a mouth and I wouldn’t care,” Lance said. “You’re half-Galra, so what? I mean, do you really think the last name McClain’s Cuban? Hell no! Everyone’s half-something. You just happen to be half purple fuzzy alien, and you can use what you are to prove that not all of the Galra are bad. Krolia, Kolivan, Narya, Acxa, the rest of the Blades. Not all of the Galra are bad, and if people can’t see that, maybe they’re the ones that need to take a look in the mirror.”
Lance walked over and stood behind Keith, wrapping his arms around him tightly and resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder. “You just have to know how to look at the good side and not stare into the bad. Staring at the bad is a good way to lose yourself.”
Keith nodded softly, relaxing back against Lance. He knew Lance was right, and he’d never openly admit it. He sighed softly, putting his hands against Lance’s arms. “Thanks, Lance,” he whispered. “I was…so caught up in how I looked that…I didn’t think about how I could use it to help people, not hurt them. I…I was acting stupidly.”
Lance nodded, giving Keith a squeeze. “You were,” he said. “But, I love you anyway. What’s life without a little bit of stupidity?”
“You’d be the expert on that,” Keith said with a smirk, elbowing Lance in the stomach playfully.
“Oh, screw you,” Lance laughed, rubbing his stomach.
Keith just grinned, showing off his newly grown in fangs. “If you think you’re man enough,” he said with a teasing growl. He didn’t expect Lance to lunge and pin him to the bed, looking up at the Blue Paladin and realizing Lance was straddling his waist and had locked Keith down in a tight grip.
“I think I am,” Lance said. He looked down at Keith, his eyes scanning his face.
“What?” Keith asked.
Lance surged forward and kissed Keith, his hands tangling with Keith’s above their heads. After a minute, he pulled away, Keith’s face red and both men panting for breath. “Lance…what the hell?” Keith asked, noticing now that their hands were laced together, and Lance seemed to be pushing his hips against Keith’s.
“I don’t care about how look because I love you no matter what. Like I said, you could be green with yellow splotches and tentacles for limbs and a beak for a mouth and I wouldn’t care because you’d still be Keith Kogane. The one person I give a damn about more than myself.”
Keith smiled, leaning up and kissing Lance again. “About damn time you said it, idiot,” he said. “I knew you loved me, and I loved you for a while, but you always chased girls and I thought I was being stupid. Which was why I was always ragging on you and being a jerk. It’s about damn time you said it, even if it did take me almost dying.”
“Yeah, well, no more of that,” Lance said, snickering against Keith’s neck.
Neither man knew what the future would hold for them, but as long as they were together and working with Voltron, they knew a good future would happen.
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Post by FangZeronos on Aug 22, 2018 14:16:07 GMT -5
Kiss in the Rain (Voltron Legendary Defender)
It’d been a week since the death of Sendak and the new Robeast arriving, and things around the Garrison had started settling down until the Coalition and other species started arriving on Earth. The amount of surprise around the Garrison at the different races and cultures made the administration happy and nervous at the same time, despite the Paladins and Coran assuring everyone that the newcomers were friendly.
Keith sighed as he stood at the edge of the boundaries for the Garrison, leaning against a wall and folding his arms as he watched rainclouds in the distance, still too far away to hear the thunder but close enough to heighten his anticipation of the rain. He ran his hands in his hair and messed it up, snickering as he imagined Krolia’s reaction.
“Really? Again?” she’d ask before running her hands in his hair and straightening it back out, laughing at the indignation on her son’s face. She’d stopped and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, kissing his head.
He smiled softly, his eyes never leaving the rainclouds. He heard someone behind him, turning a bit and seeing Acxa walk up. “Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” Acxa said, leaning against Keith. “Lance and Krolia said you’d be out here.” She looked out at the horizon, her eyes on the clouds as she narrowed her eyes. “It’s going to storm.”
“Yep. I can’t wait. I haven’t seen a good rainstorm since before we left Earth in Blue,” Keith said. “God…that’s been a long time.”
Acxa nodded softly, folding her arms. “When I was a little kid, the rain always signaled the start of the hard part of the calendar,” she said. “Four phoebs a deca-phoeb, it rained nonstop. It’d let off for three quintants and then back on. Couldn’t go outside, couldn’t open a window. My family would start going stir-crazy after three movements of the rain. I don’t like it after all those deca-phoebs.”
Keith looked at Acxa as she spoke, and he put his hand on her arm. “It won’t rain for that long here,” he said. “A few hours, some of the larger storms last two or three days. It’ll be over before you know it.”
A clap of thunder rang out as a lightning bolt flew across the sky, Acxa jumping and sighing as she heard Keith snickering. “It isn’t funny,” she said, hitting him in the chest before crossing her arms.
“A little,” Keith said. He stretched and rubbed his eyes, running his hand in his hair again. “So, did you ever find out what happened to Ezor and Zethrid after the cruiser exploded?”
Acxa sighed. “Ezor survived, lost her other leg and her right hand. Zethrid…tried to shield her from the blast,” she said. “She didn’t make it. I found Ezor on a moon near where they were, her other leg gone from the blast. She said that…without Zethrid, or Lotor, she didn’t know what to do. I offered a chance to help me, but she refused. I took her to a medical facility near Olkarion, and that was the last I saw of her.”
Keith nodded, the thunder getting closer. He looked out at the rain and sighed, rubbing his arms. “I’m sorry, Acxa,” he said.
“It isn’t your fault,” Acxa said with a shake of her head as she pulled away from Keith. “I couldn’t keep my friends together. I watched that bastard kill Narti, we blew up Zethrid and Ezor. I…I guess it’s my fault nothing goes right.” She wrapped her arms around herself, looking out at the storm. “Maybe this is my punishment. All my friends die or the people I love leave me in some way.”
Keith bit his lip, looking down. “I used to think the same thing,” he said. “Growing up without my mom around, only my Blade of Marmora dagger as the sole reminder of her, my dad died when I was a little kid. Made do where I could, but then a guy gave me a chance. It led me to a Blue Lion, a Castle in space, and one of the strongest women I could ever hope to meet. I’m not going to leave you.”
Acxa looked at Keith and shook her head. “You can’t know that. Everyone leaves eventually, Keith. My Galra side is more dominant, and your human side’s the dominant one. What’ll happen when you die like everyone else? What if I get too attached and I lose you again? I lost three deca-phoebs thinking you were dead after that fight with Lotor, I don’t think I could—”
Keith put his fingers on Acxa’s lips. “Stop worrying about the future. It’ll happen as it happens. We can’t worry about the future and forget what’s in front of us.”
“What are you saying?” Acxa asked. “Keith, you know Zethrid and Ezor were only saying what they did to get a rise out of us in that fight.” She knew in her heart that what she was saying was the right thing since she didn’t know what Keith felt despite the reaction he’d given.
“Look, Acxa. It’s your favorite Paladin!” Ezor giggled.
“Remember how she never wanted to kill him?” Zethrid asked. “Do you even know each other?”
“She’s always been sweet on the one with the flippity hair,” Ezor said. “Maybe it is true love.”
“Can we just fight?!” Keith snarled as his Bayard turned into a sword and he rushed forward.
“It worked, but for the wrong reasons,” Keith said. The storm was getting closer, lightning crackling and thunder resonating off of the canyons in the distance. He figured about five minutes before it started pouring down on their heads.
“What are you talking about?” Acxa asked. She looked at Keith before glancing back at the approaching rainclouds, biting her lip nervously as the thunder got louder. “Keith?”
“Since I found you in the Weblum, and every time we’ve fought and come to a standstill, something about you made me stop and think,” Keith said. “We were always too evenly matched, too fast and strong to kill the other. It was more sparring then fighting, wasn’t it? A challenge to see who’d break first. Then you saved my life at the Kral Zera, and…the look we gave each other, it was more than respect, Acxa.”
“And then every time Lotor would send us to fight you, I couldn’t do it,” Acxa said. “It’s why I started fighting the others and leaving one of the girls to fight to you. I couldn’t look you in the eyes and try and kill you, because the thundering in my chest wouldn’t let me do it without feeling something wrong.”
The thunder clashed overhead, Acxa jumping and narrowing her eyes. Keith chuckled, shaking his head as the first few drops started to come down. After a minute, it started pouring, Acxa’s snarl of hate and disappointment ringing out over the thunder. Keith laughed and took Acxa’s hands, keeping her from running.
“I’m going inside,” Acxa growled. “Let me go, Keith.”
“You’re cute when you’re mad,” Keith said, the words out of his mouth before he could stop them. He blinked and dropped Acxa’s hands, backing up and slipping in a puddle, laughing as he landed on the ground. “Damn.”
Acxa couldn’t stop it. She started laughing, watching Keith hit the ground and the puddle splash up onto him. She pushed her wet hair out of her face and looked down at him with a bemused smirk, rolling her eyes. She held her hand out and helped Keith up, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “You’re an idiot,” she said.
“So?” Keith asked with a smirk.
“I’m going inside,” Acxa said. “Before I get sick and die.”
“So dramatic,” Keith said, pushing Acxa playfully and smirking.
Acxa rolled her eyes again. She looked between the Garrison and Keith, grinning like her hand had been caught in the cookie jar.
“Oh, no. What are you thinking?” Keith asked.
“Catch me if you can,” Acxa smirked, pushing Keith backwards and taking off at a hard run, heading for the door to the Garrison. She laughed as she ran, glancing to her side and seeing Keith was keeping up with her.
Keith laughed, the thunder and lightning lighting up their race. He looked at Acxa and grinned, lunging and tackling her into the ground, landing in a bigger puddle that soaked the two of them down. “I win,” he said, looking down at her and grinning.
“You cheated,” Acxa panted, looking up at Keith and seeing a fire blazing in his eyes. She felt his hands on her waist, feeling like she was on fire from his touch.
“How could I cheat on a race with no rules?” Keith asked, standing up and helping Acxa up. “All you said was “Catch me if you can” before you took off. I thought I could do that.”
“Still cheated,” Acxa smirked, jumping when the loudest thunderclap rang out overhead, having pressed herself against Keith. She felt his arms around her waist, and she found herself pulling closer to him, resting her head against his neck and feeling his pulse against her cheek. “What are we doing?”
“Right now, standing in the rain,” Keith said, laughing softly when Acxa bit his shoulder. “I don’t know, Acxa. We keep pussyfooting around and we don’t confront our feelings, something’s going to happen and one of us will get hurt if we’re not careful.”
“Damn being careful,” Acxa whispered, looking out at the rain-soaked pavement and vehicles. “I don’t want to be careful. I want to throw caution into the wind and do what I want for a change without it blowing up in my face…”
“Then do it,” Keith said, rubbing Acxa’s back and only making the rain caught in her clothes drip down, feeling her shiver against him. “DO what makes you happy for once.”
Acxa nodded, biting her lip before she put her hands against Keith’s cheeks and kissed him, pulling herself closer to him as her arms looped around his neck, feeling his arms slid to her waist. She sighed against his lips, running her hands into his rain-soaked hair. She nipped Keith’s lip, feeling his tongue slide against her lips before she opened her mouth and let him in, feeling him tighten his grip around her.
After a minute, Keith pulled back when the need to breathe became too strong, and he smiled softly, licking his lips. “Mmm…I can get used to that,” he said.
Acxa smiled, running her hands in Keith’s hair. “So could I,” she whispered.
Both of them jumped when the door behind them burst open, Krolia and Allura standing there looking at the two.
“There you are,” Krolia said. “Get inside so you don’t get sick. I thought you were smarter than this, Keith?”
Allura smiled, seeing the nervous way that Keith and Acxa were avoiding looking at them. “Krolia, I believe we may have interrupted something.”
Krolia blinked. “Oh…I suppose we have,” she said. She smiled sheepishly, chuckling a bit as she started to back up. “Don’t, uh…don’t stay out here too long. Don’t need either of you getting sick.” Allura grabbed Krolia’s arm and pulled her back through the door, leaving the two standing alone in the rain again.
“Damn,” Acxa snickered.
Keith laughed, shaking his head and letting his bangs fall in his face. “Let’s get inside and get dried off. My room’s down the hall. You can stay the night if you want. That way you’re not tracking water throughout the Garrison.”
Acxa smiled. “I’d like that,” she said.
One last loud clap of thunder overhead as the door to the Garrison shut, leaving Acxa and Keith in each other’s company for the rest of the night, hopefully to wait out the storm and decide what they were the next morning.
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Post by FangZeronos on Oct 16, 2018 1:50:01 GMT -5
Broken Master (A Kingdom Hearts one-shot)
Almost fifteen years had been spent asleep. Spent living with his heart in that of a boy he’d met once. He knew that boy had tried to find his friends and bring them back, and he’d managed with one. But it was too late. She’d been converted. Taking her to Castle Oblivion, she’d fulfilled her promise, but in a way nobody expected. Walking into the foyer of the Castle and ending the sleeping spell on the young man at the furthest reaches, the Keyblade Master laughed, sealing Sora and Riku out of the Castle as she stalked through the halls of her former home, intent on doing her new master’s work. That was well over eight hours before.
To him, the last hours had been spent fighting her. His best friend from years ago. The one person that got him to smile. The person who promised to be right back to wake him up. He’d woken up, that was certain, but not in the way he hoped would happen. Ventus, a former student of Master Eraqus, was trapped in a battle with one of the two people he was ever close to.
“Aqua!” Ven yelled, dodging yet another swing and barely casting a Reflect Spell to block the shotlock burst from Aqua’s Keyblade. “Aqua, please! This isn’t you!” He yelled as his Reflect was broken, Aqua knocking him down and leaping, feeling her foot on his chest. “Aqua, it’s Ven. Please…listen to me…” He struggled to reach his pocket, knowing that if he could just grasp the Wayfinder…
Aqua looked down at Ven, yellow eyes sparkling in the light of the throne rooms candles, the moon and stars shining in from the broken windows signaling the length of the battle between friends. Laughing, Aqua spun the Brightcrest, bringing it down and pointing the tip of her blade at Ven’s heart. “This is perfectly me, Ventus!” she snapped. “Almost fifteen years in the Realm of Darkness. All I had left was hopelessness and despair, and now—now you’re going to know them, too.” She raised her Keyblade, the light glinting off of the blade.
“I have known it, Aqua,” Ven whispered, his eyes soft as he tried to hold back the tears threatening to spill over his eyes. “I have known it. While you’ve been trapped in the Realm of Darkness…I’ve been sleeping with my heart inside of Sora. Waiting…waiting for the day you’d come back to me!” He knew he was going to die, and to him—dying by Aqua’s hand, even if she wasn’t truly herself, would have been the way he’d want to die.
Aqua hesitated, lowering her eyes before she tightened her grip around the Keyblade. “You don’t know anything, Ven! Being stuck in the Realm of Darkness!” she yelled, her hands starting to shake at the thought of plunging the blade into Ven started weakening. “Wandering aimlessly with no concept of time, the only companion you have being your own doubts.”
Ven, still struggling to get to his pocket, looked at Aqua. “No, I don’t know what that’s like,” he said. “But I know what it’s like to be trapped in a place and unable to get out of it. And I know that the real Aqua is inside there somewhere, struggling to get out of Xehanort’s grasp! The Aqua I know would not give up on her friends!”
Aqua narrowed her eyes, raising the Keyblade and plunging it down, hearing it hit glass before the sound of it piercing skin ripped through her ears. She looked down, seeing the shards of Ven’s Wayfinder falling to the ground and her Keyblade lodged in his chest, blood flowing from the wound. She felt her grip on the handle of the blade slacken, eyes wide as she realized what was taking place. “Ven…” she whispered, looking down at him as she watched her Keyblade vanish. “Ven, no…what have I done…?!”
Ven coughed softly, feeling Aqua’s hand in his. He looked up at her, watching her eyes go from harsh yellow back to the soft blue he’d known for years. He squeezed her hand softly, struggling to breathe. “You did…what you thought…was right…” he whispered.
“I’m going to lose you again,” Aqua sobbed, pressing her forehead to Ven’s hand. “I can’t lose you again! I won’t!”
Summoning her Keyblade again, Aqua began feeling a pit in her stomach. She tightened her hand, pointing the Keyblade at Ven. “Heal!” When it did nothing, she closed her eyes and took a shaking breath. “HEAL! HEAL!!” She felt her heart sink, screaming and flinging her Keyblade away as she collapsed, her head falling against Ven’s chest. “I’m sorry, Ven…”
Ven put his hand on Aqua’s cheek softly, making her look at him. He shook his head softly, smiling weakly. “Don’t be,” he whispered. “I…if I was going to die…I would have…wanted you to be the one…to do it…”
“Don’t talk like that,” Aqua whispered, leaning her cheek into Ven’s palm softly. “I’ll…I’ll find a way. I’ll have to.” She bit her lip, tears streaking down her face like small waterfalls. “I’ll put you back to sleep. I can get you to Master Yen Sid. He can help me. He’ll know what to do, Ven.” She closed her eyes, putting her hand on Ven’s against her cheek. “Don’t leave me again…”
“I’m always with you,” Ven whispered, looking up at Aqua. “I’m always with you, Aqua. In your heart…” His hand slipped from Aqua’s grip, landing on the floor with a soft thump as the light faded from his eyes, the wound and loss of blood to great for Ven to fight against.
“No! No!!” Aqua yelled, pressing her hands to the wound. “No, Ventus! NO! I’m not losing you again! I won’t let you!!” She screamed as she tried to bring him back, collapsing to her knees and pressing bloodied hands onto her face, sobbing as realization and dread set in inside of her heart. “Ven…Ven I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry…”
She sat with Ventus’ body until the sun rose and her tears were gone, a dull shimmering around the Castle signaling the barrier was falling. She heard running footsteps, three sets that signaled Sora, Riku, and one other. She shook with silent shudders, clinging to Ventus’ now cold body, her hands tight in his shirt. Jumping when she felt a hand on her shoulder, Aqua looked up at Sora.
“I’m sorry…” she whispered, her eyes bloodshot as she felt a new wave of tears, surprising herself since she felt she had no more to shed. She looked over at Riku, her heart tightening as she spotted the man next to him. “Terra—”
Terra walked over, kneeling beside Aqua. He put his hand on her back softly, reaching down and closing Ventus’ eyes. “It’s alright,” he whispered. “It’s ok, Aqua. This is on Xehanort. Not you. It’s the same with what I’d done as Xehanort. That blood is on his hands. Not yours.”
Aqua started sobbing once again, turning and clinging to Terra, all traces of the Keyblade Master gone, a broken woman in her place. “I never told him the truth…” she whispered, feeling Terra’s arms around her.
“He knew, Aqua,” Terra whispered. “He knew you loved him. He always felt the same about you…”
Aqua shook her head softly. “I’m sorry, Terra…I’m so sorry…” she whispered. “I’m sorry about everything…”
After a few more minutes of endless sobbing, Aqua felt herself limp in Terra’s arms, her head falling against his shoulder as she fell asleep, the last day catching up to her as well as exhaustion from the endless crying. Sora and Riku had taken care of Ven, the two younger men nodding.
“Let’s go,” Terra whispered, picking up the shards of Ven’s Wayfinder and putting them in his pocket, lifting Aqua up and carrying her to the Gummy Ship, knowing she’d feel worse again when she woke, but for now, he hoped her dreams were taking her someplace she deserved to go.
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Post by FangZeronos on Jan 30, 2019 12:01:47 GMT -5
Slowly Mending--Young Justice Spitfire [Teen]
Artemis sighed, looking at the calendar and clenched her hands, looking at the date. It was Wally’s birthday, five months after his disappearance. She refused to say he was dead, because she knew somewhere deep inside, that stupid bastard that she, for unknown reasons, was still in love with after five years was too stubborn to die, not when they had so much planned. She drummed her fingers on her stomach, feeling a tiny kick that made her still choke up before taking a shaking breath as she heard the door get knocked on. “Who the hell…?” she mumbled, walking over and looking out of the peephole. She groaned when she saw her sister, surprised Jade had found her. She unlocked the door and opened it, stepping back. “Jade? What are you doing here?” “Hunting your ass down,” Jade said, walking past her sister and sitting on the arm of the couch. “Sure, come in. Make yourself at home,” Artemis deadpanned. “I’m serious, why are you here?” Jade looked down, wrapping her arms around herself and biting her lip. Artemis had never seen her sister look vulnerable, and it wasn’t a good look for the usually hard as nails former League of Shadows assassin. “I’m sorry about Wally,” she said after a solid few minutes, looking at her younger sister. “I heard what happened from Ra’s. He found me himself and told me. I…I went and saw Mom to see if you were there, and she told me about the house out here in Palo Alto--” “You’re rambling,” Artemis said, turning her back and heading for the kitchen again. “Stop kicking my insides, you little booger. Christ…today’s a day I wish I could drink…” Jade cocked an eyebrow, getting up and following her sister. She walked over and stopped in front of Artemis, a confused look on her face before she reached over and put her hand on Artemis’ stomach, blinking and feeling her heart stop. “Artemis…” “Don’t,” Artemis whispered, pushing Jade away. “Damn it, Jade, just don’t.” “Artemis Lian Crock!” Jade snapped. “You do not get to shove me away! Not today. Not right now!” She glanced at the calendar and stepped forward, putting her hands on Artemis’ face. “Not today, little sister. Please.” Artemis felt the dam she’d build in her heart shatter, sinking against her sister and sobbing, clutching Jade’s jacket. She buried her face in Jade’s shoulder, her sister’s arms tightening around her. “I can’t do this…” she sobbed, shaking as she cried. “I can’t do this without him…that stupid bastard…went and got himself disintegrated and we can’t…we don’t know where he ended up or if he’s alive or what…” Jade rubbed Artemis’ back softly, closing her eyes. “It’s ok, honey,” she whispered. “It’s ok. It’s been five months…have you talked to anyone?” She felt her sister’s head shake, blonde hair whipping back and forth. “Why?” “It hurts too much,” Artemis whispered. “M’gann, Kaldur, Connor, Dick…they all miss him, but…I’m the one that got left behind. And I’m fucking knocked up and I can’t get blitzed because of Willow and I—” Jade nodded softly, squeezing Artemis softly. “When was the last time you got out of the house?” she asked. “Like…really getting out of the house? Not to an appointment or anything?” Artemis bit her lip, looking away. “Apparently too long if I have to think…” “Then we’re going out,” Jade said, standing up and dragging Artemis to her feet. “It’s been five months since Wally disappeared. Like you said, you’re pregnant but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. I had fun when I was pregnant with Lian.” She didn’t say that the fun she had was murder, torture, and other war crimes to find out where the man that ‘killed’ her sister was, but she knew Artemis knew what she meant. “Give me your phone.” “Why?” Artemis asked, cocking an eyebrow softly. “Give!” Jade held her hand out. “Now.” Artemis groaned, handing her sister the phone. “Fine. Whatever you’re going to do, I don’t approve a damn bit.” “That’s why I’m doing it,” Jade said. She unlocked the phone and went to Artemis’ messages, starting a new group text before selecting a few of the girls in the contacts that she knew Artemis was closest with, telling them to get to the house because she needed people to talk to. “I will be right back.” She stuffed the phone back in her sister’s pocket, grinning as she did. “What did you do?” Artemis asked, her eyes narrowed. “Sent out a party invite,” Jade smirked. “I’m going to go get food. Instead of going out, we’re staying in. You’re probably hungry and I know you don’t eat when you’re upset. Never did as a kid.” She hugged Artemis, closing her eyes when she felt her sister’s arm around her. “I’ll be right back. Go have a bath or a shower or something and look nice. Frumpy sweats and an oversized jersey are not party wear, dear.” Artemis rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mother,” she said. She sighed and grabbed her purse, taking her keys out and handing them to Jade. “There’s the house key. I’m locking the door behind you.” Jade nodded, stuffing the keys into her pocket. “Alright. I will be back,” she said, heading out and shutting the door. Artemis grumbled and locked the door, tromping up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door before she locked it, setting her phone on the nightstand and stripping down, letting her mane of blonde hair down before walking into the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the tub and started the water, pulling the curtain closed and pulling the stopper on the faucet, the showerhead springing to life and spraying down into the tub. She got in and sighed as she stepped under the water, closing her eyes and running her hands through her hair softly, getting it wet. Her mind wandered as she massaged the strawberry scented shampoo through her hair. “I don’t know whether to kill you or kiss you, babe,” Wally said, back to back and facing down League of Shadows soldiers and Reach.
“Mm…you can decide later. When we’re alone,” Artemis said seductively, cocking an eyebrow and smirking.
Wally did decide. They had barely got in the door of the house when he pinned her against the couch and ripped her Tigress suit off of her, crossbows and bolts flying everywhere in his haste. He fucked her against the couch, once in the stairs heading to their room, against the bathroom door, in the shower, and finally on the bed, before going slow and dragging it out for the sixth time, changing from a hard fuck to a slow lovemaking, something both heroes needed. Artemis’ body felt higher then cloud nine with each consecutive orgasm, moaning and whimpering with each stroke and thrust of her boyfriend inside of her. She woke the next morning curled up against Wally’s side, her leg draped over his hips as she hugged close to him, afraid she was dreaming, and she’d wake up back on Black Manta’s sub.
Two days later, her world was shattered as she stepped out in the cold arctic air. Wally had disappeared to help Barry and Bart stop the Chrysalis, the last of the Reach’s Magnetic Field Disruptors. When the device sparked and started to blow up, two Speedster blurs stopped on the ice, Artemis looking around with a smile on her face to try and find Wally which shouldn’t have been hard considering the mustard yellow suit and red pants.
She watched Barry walking over, and she felt her heart stop in her chest. “Wait…where’s Wally?” she asked, tears brimming her eyes softly.
Barry stopped in front of Artemis, biting his lip softly. “Artemis…he wanted me to tell you he loved you,” he whispered.
“No…no no no!” Artemis yelled, sinking into the snow as the tears spilt over her cheeks, burying her face in her hands before she felt M’gann’s arms around her, curling up into her best friend. “No…no!”
Six weeks later, she found out she was pregnant. Artemis snapped out of her daydream, rinsing her hair out before she washed her body. She smiled softly when she felt Willow’s tiny feet kicking inside of her, spending extra time on her stomach as she lathered the scented bodywash over herself. She washed off and shut off the water, drying her hair as best as she could before wrapping the towel around herself, walking into the bedroom and tossing the towel in the corner. “I really need to do that laundry…” she mumbled, grabbing a matched set of underwear as well as her jeans and a shirt, getting dressed before brushing out her hair and pulling it back into her signature high ponytail. She heard voices downstairs, closing her eyes and making out M’gann, Zatanna, Raquel, and to her surprise, Dinah. She slid her shoes on and walked down, biting her lip as she did. M’gann looked over and saw Artemis, flying over and hugging her friend. “Hi,” she said. Artemis closed her eyes and hugged M’gann back. “Hi, M’gann,” she whispered. She felt the other girls hug her from all sides, hearing Jade’s snickers from the kitchen. “When did you all get here?” “I’ve been outside for ten minutes,” Dinah said. “I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer.” “Sorry, Dinah. I was in the shower under Jade’s orders,” Artemis said, glaring at her sister who grinned and stuck her tongue out. “Watch it, Jade. I’ll cut your tongue out and give it to Roy.” “Oh, he gets my tongue enough, little sister,” Jade said with a smirk, laughing when Artemis shuddered, and Raquel loudly protested having to hear that. “She set me up for that, Rocket. Don’t take it out on me!” Artemis rolled her eyes and smiled softly, shaking off the girls and heading for the kitchen. “The hell are you making?” she asked, looking over her sister’s shoulder. “Goi cuon,” Jade said. “Salad rolls. Something I learned to make when I did a month-long job in Vietnam. Worked as a cook in the Prime Minister’s mansion and learned a few things, but this is one I make all the time since Lian loves them.” As the six women sat and talked, catching up on Artemis’ life, as well as learning what the Team and the League had been up to in her absence, Artemis found herself relaxing and having fun for the first time in months. When Raquel left early due to having an interview the next morning, Dinah ducking out a bit later since she was training the Team again, it left M’gann and Zatanna with the two sisters. M’gann watched Artemis get up and head into the living room, and she followed. She watched Artemis stop in front of a large picture on the wall, one taken of her and Wally on New Year’s Day on the Watchtower during a party Diana had decided to throw. She walked over and wrapped her arms around Artemis’ shoulders, feeling her lean into the embrace. “Are you alright, Artemis?”
“I don’t know, M’gann. Slowly mending, I guess. It’s been five months, and I’m losing my mind. I keep thinking his dumb ass is going to waltz in that door like a moron and be loud, or trip over his own two feet and land in the laundry basket or something just…Wally, you know? I don’t think I can do this without him.”
“Do what?” M’gann asked. Artemis pulled away from M’gann, turning and facing her before putting her friend’s hand on her stomach. “That.” M’gann’s face lit up before she hugged Artemis tightly. “You don’t have to do it alone. You’ve got us. We’re all in your phone, Zeta works both ways. You just have to ask for help, Artemis,” she said. “Ok? We’ll always be there for you.” Artemis nodded softly, clinging to M’gann as a fresh round of tears fell down her cheeks. “I Know…” she whispered. “I’m sorry I’ve been so distant, M’gann…” “It’s ok,” M’gann said, rubbing Artemis’ back softly. “It’s ok. I understand the desire to get away from it and try and heal after what happened. You don’t have to apologize to me.” Over the next four months, with regular visits to and by her friends and sister, Artemis found the support system she needed. On the night of March 17th, Artemis welcomed her daughter Willow Mary into the world. Artemis swore that she was looking at a spitting image of Wally, down to the shape of the nose and the shining emerald green eyes. She fell instantly in love with her daughter, more then she had feeling her growing inside. Artemis’ life was pretty simple from that point on. Waking up at random hours to feed and change Willow, visiting her mother in Gotham, Wally’s parents in Central City where his mother did not want to let Willow go the first time Artemis visited, M’gann and Connor in Happy Harbor, drop-ins from Kaldur, Zatanna, Barry, Iris, and Bart, even Dick once or twice. Nothing could have prepared her for the joy and shock that she was about to get when she woke up on the morning of June 20th, one year after Wally disappeared. Pacing the kitchen with Willow attached to her breast for the fourth time that morning, having realized months ago that her daughter was a Speedster, Artemis looked over as the doorbell rang. “Who is that this early?” she asked, looking down at Willow. She covered herself and Willow up, making her way over and peeking out, seeing M’gann. “M’gann, hi. What’re you doing here? We’re not supposed to meet up until Friday. What’s wrong?” “You need to come with me right now,” M’gann said. “Like right now, right now. It’s one thousand percent urgent and Kaldur asked me to get you since this is something you need to know.” “M’gann, breathe. What the hell is going on?” Artemis asked, already walking back into the house and shutting off the television before she laid Willow in her playpen for a minute while she readjusted and closed her shirt back up, tucking the cover into the diaper bag. She double checked the bag and made sure she had everything, grabbing her purse and her crossbow from the closet before shrugging a jacket on. “M’gann?” M’gann sighed, looking at Artemis. “You know what today is,” she said. “Dinah, she’s been on monitor duty while teaching the new heroes, and…she got a blip in the Arctic. We pinged the blip and when we brought it up on radar, it’s the Chrysalis site. Kaldur asked me to get you, and he’s trying to get ahold of Dick, but Kaldur decided this was an Original Team mission.” Artemis froze. She felt her hands shaking, a small spark of hope rising in her chest. She nodded softly, pulling her jacket on before grabbing the baby carrier and putting Willow inside, the young girl giggling and flailing her legs. She swung the diaper bag and her purse on, lifting the carrier up. “Alright. Who’s, um…who’s going to watch Willow? I don’t want her in that cold.” “Bart said he would,” M’gann said. “His words were “I feel bad I didn’t slow down when Gramps told me, so I can watch Willow to hopefully start making up for Artemis losing Wally.” Kid’s riding a guilt train.” After arriving on the Watchtower and hugging Bart and telling him to stop feeling guilty, Artemis walked out of the Bioship in the Arctic, looking around as she drew her hood around her head. She was thankful they still had her polar suit, even it was the variation on her green suit. Looking around as she started forward, her feet crunching on metal and snow, the blonde archer felt the spark of hope she had start going out with each step. She was about to give up hope she spotted it. In the distance was a yellow and red thing, and Artemis took off running. As she got closer, she could make out detail on the figure, seeing a tattered Kid Flash suit and flaming red hair sticking out of the mangled cowl. “WALLY!” she screamed, pushing herself harder and mentally cussing herself out for not keeping up on her calisthenics after having Willow. She dropped to her knees and slid to a halt beside her boyfriend, putting her hands on his chest as tears fell down her cheeks. “Wally, open your eyes. Baby, please look at me! Open your damn eyes, Wally!” Groaning softly and wincing as he did, Wally slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Artemis. “Mm…don’t yell at me, babe…” he whispered. “I’m going to yell at you, you bastard,” Artemis cried, scooping Wally up and sobbing against his neck. “You complete asshole…you left me alone…” She felt his arms slide around her waist, shaking as she did. “You absolute asshole…” “Love you too, Artemis,” Wally whispered, burying his face against her neck. “I don’t…I don’t even know what happened. Last thing I remember was being shocked by the Chrysalis and then just unrelenting cold against my body.” “There’s plenty of time to catch you up,” M’gann said as she landed, putting her hand on Wally’s back. “Right now, let’s get you to the Watchtower and checked out.” Wally nodded softly, Artemis and M’gann pulling him to his feet and helping him onto the Bioship. Hours later, after many exams, tears, hugs, and threats that if he ever did anything that stupid again he would be dead for real, Wally sighed as he laid back on the bed in the hospital room, an IV drip in his hand. He looked over as Artemis walked in, Willow in her arms. “Hey, babe,” he said with a small smile. “Hi,” Artemis said, walking over and climbing up on the bed beside Wally. She leaned against him, feeling his arm around her. “Wally, this is Willow Mary. This is your daughter.” Wally smiled, looking down at Willow. “Aww…you’re adorable,” he said, snickering when Artemis handed Willow to him. “Hi, sweetie. You got your mama’s nose and eyes.” “Well, eye shape,” Artemis said with a smile. She bit her lip, looking down. “Wally…why didn’t you say anything that day? When you left to help Barry and Bart?” Wally sighed softly, shifting a bit and taking Willow’s hand. “I didn’t say anything because…if I had, I don’t think I’d have had the courage to go through with leaving,” he said. “I left because Barry and Bart weren’t going to be able to stop that damn thing on their own. I knew my slower speed wouldn’t be much use, but I had to try. If I had pulled you aside and told you I was going to help, I wouldn’t have been able to leave. I left without saying anything because I wanted the last thing you to remember me by was that kiss in Paris.” Artemis nodded softly, rubbing her hands together softly. “I wanted to hate you,” she whispered. “For just abandoning me, not having the balls to say goodbye, not coming home. But…I couldn’t. I cried, I threw up, I threw things, I cursed your name like it was a swear word, but I couldn’t hate you. No matter how much I freaking tried…” Wally wrapped his arm around Artemis, kissing her head softly. “I’m sorry, Artemis,” he said. “I’m so sorry.” Artemis nodded softly. “I don’t know whether to kill you or kiss you,” she said, looking up at Wally. Wally laughed, smiling as he did. “You can decide later. When we’re alone.” Artemis smiled, leaning up and kissing Wally. She knew the road to mending was a long one, but with Wally back beside her, she hoped it would be an easy road. Slowly mending or not, the blonde archer was content with how her life had turned out.
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Post by FangZeronos on Jul 3, 2019 14:56:54 GMT -5
Not Possible (A Young Justice Outsiders fic)
Thanksgiving was over, everyone that visited was gone except her mother. Artemis shut her bedroom door, pacing the floor as she ripped her jacket off and threw it on the desk. There was no way in hell she was ever going to get with Will. It was wrong! He was her brother-in-law, for Christ’s sake! He and Jade may not have been married anymore, but it was still wrong, and the thought made her skin crawl!
“Where the hell does she get off?” Artemis growled, sitting on the bed and clenching her hands. She sighed and shook her head, trying to clear the thought from her mind before she got sick thinking about it. The more she tried to clear it, the more the glances she gave him, and the ones he returned made her pause. “No. It’d be wrong. I could not mess Lian up like that. It’s bad enough Jade’s ditched her, and I will not be responsible for more trauma to a three-year-old!”
Picking up the picture of her and Wally, Artemis ran her fingers over his image softly. Over two years and she was still in love with that ginger idiot. Their life had been perfect out of the life. No missions, no broken bones, no hospital stays, no ruined days except for bad grades and worse teachers. When had it all changed and gone so wrong? “Oh, right,” she remembered bitterly, the day Dick called and asked for her help on a deep cover mission.
“Artemis? I know I’m probably the last person you want to hear from right now, but I need your help. Kaldur’s on a deep cover mission and it’s going belly up. I need—”
“Where do I need to be and where?” Artemis asked, already running a checklist in her mind as she started looking through the closet, moving clothes and grabbing a bag that had her suit in it. Listening to Dick’s instructions and timeline, Artemis packed up and put her phone in her pocket, feeling Wally at the doorframe.
“What’s Dick want?” Wally asked, his arms crossed as he watched Artemis. “What are you packing for?”
Sighing, the blonde archer turned and looked at her boyfriend. “He asked me for help. Kaldur’s in deep cover with Manta, has been since after Tula’s funeral. He’s asking me to go in as a new identity, glamour charm to disguise myself. I told him I would, Wally. Kaldur’s my friend, and I— “
“He’s my friend too,” Wally said. “And you’re just jumping at this? No questions asked, no “Let me talk to Wally”, no nothing? That isn’t fair, Artemis, and you know it.”
Artemis nodded, sighing softly and knowing that Wally was right. “You’re right, it isn’t fair,” she said. She set her bag down and put her hand on Wally’s cheek. “I’m meeting Dick tonight in Blüdhaven, come with me and learn what I have to, that way you’re involved. Please? I…I don’t want us fighting about this and having it fester while I’m gone, Wally.”
Wally nodded softly, turning his head and kissing Artemis’ palm. “Alright. I’ll come. It’s just the four of us that know?”
“Yeah,” Artemis nodded. “M’gann and Connor don’t, and…they’re not on speaking terms for some reason, M’gann hasn’t told me why. It’s best to keep them out of it for now.”
“They deserve to know, Artemis. They’re the rest of the Original Six.”
“And if we tell them about this, and word gets out that something isn’t right, that’s more people that get detained and interrogated by the Reach, or the Light, or the League. We have to keep them out of it. Until we have to spill the beans.”
“Yeah, that worked like a damn charm,” Artemis muttered, setting the picture down. “She fried Kaldur’s mind, I had to kidnap her, and it didn’t work the way it should have. It all went to hell.” Standing up and looking out of the window, seeing the streetlights illuminating the street below. Sighing as she shut the window, Artemis looked over as a knock sounded on her door. Walking over, she opened it and came face to face with Will. “What?”
“You alright? You and Paula seemed at each other’s throats the rest of the night,” Will said. “Especially after her biting your head off for being back on the Team.”
Artemis sighed, backing up and pinching her nose. She sat on the bed and watched Will lean against the door. “She seems to think there’s something between us. With how I look at you, or you look at me, or the way we work off each other keeping Lian, Violet, Tara, and everything else going. Trying to guilt me into admitting feelings that are not there,” she said. “It doesn’t help matters that if I don’t realize it’s you, seeing you from the back reminds me of Wally. It—” She ran her hand over her face and sighed, shaking her head. “Will, tonight was the closest I came to actually smacking my mother. Something I’ve never done or thought about. This is one time she was out of line, and I…I didn’t know what to say except that it’d never happen.”
Will nodded. “I’ll be honest, Artemis…with Jade disappearing, Lian does need some sort of a mother figure in her life, and you’re doing the best you can, even with being back in the life. I’ve toyed with the idea of going out to start dating again, but with the Security firm, trying to keep the house up, new strays coming in every other week—”
“I told Dick we need to stop picking up strays,” Artemis said with a bemused smile.
Will laughed and nodded. “But he don’t listen,” he said. “Artemis, when you were working on Violet’s school enrollment, Jade was outside. She told me to move on, that she wasn’t coming back. She still thinks she’s too damaged to have a family, a life outside of the life. I tried to convince her, but she didn’t listen. She’s moved on, and I think it’s time I have to, too. I can’t wait for Jade. Not anymore. I still love her, that’s never going to change, but I can’t change her heart or her mind.”
He sighed and ran his hand in his hair, pushing off of the doorframe. “Your mom’s wrong. The only glances I give are ones of thanks, because without your help, I’m pretty sure this house would fall apart and Lian would be taken by Child Services and shipped off somewhere else. You’re keeping the ship running while I’m busting my butt to keep the lights on. “
“Hey, Lian’s my niece. I’ll always help when it comes to her. I love that little monster,” Artemis said with a small smile. “I know that…I’m not an easy person to live with, but…thank you, Will. For taking me in after Wally disappeared, letting me stay here while I worked on my degree.”
Will smiled. “You’re welcome,” he said. “Don’t let Paula get to you. You’re still holding out hope that Wally’s going to come back, and honestly, so are me and Dick. Don’t listen to her about this. Be the person you know you have to be, and that’s Tigress. You’ll find happiness again, just like I will. It’s a slow process, but it’ll happen. Trust me, I’m kind of an expert on the whole “Getting back on the wagon after losing yourself” after what I did for five years, trying to find Roy.”
Artemis nodded, getting up and biting her lip. She walked over and hugged Will, closing her eyes. “Thanks. I needed this conversation.”
Will nodded, hugging Artemis back. “Anytime, Stripes.” He pulled back and backed up. “Get some rest. Tomorrow Lian wants a Christmas Tree.”
Artemis snickered and saluted. “And whatever she wants, she gets. Aye, aye, Captain. I’ll be right as rain to find a good tree for Christmas.” She watched Will walk back down the hall to the living room, and she shut her door softly, locking it again and kicking her boots off to sit beside the window. Sitting on the bed, she ran her hand through her long, blonde hair, smiling softly. “He’s right…I am still holding out hope for Wally. I’ll give it until the three-year anniversary of his disappearance. If he doesn’t come back, then I’ll move on. Not one minute sooner. That’s my solid vow. Not one goddamn minute sooner.”
Changing and laying back on the bed, staring at the picture of herself, Wally, and Brucely again, the archer smiled softly and closed her eyes, feeling better than she had all night. Her mother was wrong, and she knew it deep inside. If she had to move on, she knew it wouldn’t be with Will, but with someone she could connect with outside of the life. She had friends outside of her hero community, she just had to be willing to let go of the past.
“Seven months…you got seven months to come back, West. You have to,” she whispered, drifting off to sleep.
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